Replacing over 10 acres of surface parking at the western edge of UCSD’s campus, the new Theatre District Living & Learning Neighborhood introduces housing for over 2,000 undergraduate students, interwoven with academic facilities, campus arts venues, and access to the adjacent La Jolla Playhouse.
Anchored by five mixed-use buildings, the site introduces new dining options, interdisciplinary classrooms, and a mobility hub that consolidates bike, shuttle, and rideshare services. But beyond its academic and residential offerings, the neighborhood foregrounds a layered open space strategy—interweaving courtyards, trails, and restored habitat to support ecological function and student well-being.
The landscape builds on the site’s proximity to the campus’ Historic Grove and Coastal Sage Scrub Preserve, restoring portions of coastal forest while extending native corridors throughout the district. Stormwater is managed through a series of stepped basins and bioswales known as The Ramble, which doubles as a connective green spine and social commons. Outdoor classrooms, shaded seating areas, and walking paths are integrated throughout the site plan, encouraging passive recreation and everyday engagement with the landscape.
Targeting LEED Platinum certification, the neighborhood includes all-electric buildings with low-carbon materials, passive ventilation, and high-performance envelopes. In the landscape, native and climate-adapted plantings reduce water demand and heat retention, while permeable paving and smart irrigation support long-term sustainability. Taken together, these elements signal a broader campus shift toward denser, greener development—and a long-term investment in climate-responsive student housing across several of the university’s new developments.
Chabot College Library & Grand Court
In collaboration with architects Group 4 and HMC, SWA transformed Chabot College’s predominantly paved Grand Court into an outdoor living room at the heart of the 14,000-student campus. The opportunity to reimagine the space came in conjunction with siting, massing, and designing the new iconic, three-story faceted library where the campus’ main walks intersec...
Westmark School
Westmark is a private, second-through-12th-grade school focused on providing quality education to students with learning differences. The project itself has been divided into five separate phases, which will include site renovations for classrooms, courtyards, playgrounds, etc. The school provides a unique student experience that re-envisions traditional educa...
CSU Long Beach Peterson Hall
CSU Long Beach is in the process of a series of major renovations as its mid-century buildings fall short in terms of capacity and technology. The Peterson Hall project extends the classroom experience to the outdoors, while also adding much-needed sustainability updates to the landscape. Terraced seating of composite wood invites students to lounge while awai...
Stanford University Terman Park
The removal of an existing building adjacent to the center of Stanford’s campus provided a unique opportunity to fashion an interim park space. The project emphasizes reuse and seeks to utilize salvaged materials as well as the existing grading and fountain as key features of the park. As a multifunctional performance and recreational space, the project ...