Arizona State university | WALTON CENTER FOR PLANETARY HEALTH

Location: Tempe, Arizona

Completion: April 2022

Size: 281,000 sf

The site for the new Rob & Melani Walton Center for Planetary Health, on the southwest corner of University Drive and Rural Road, is the eastern gateway to Arizona State University’s Tempe campus. The site is also the gateway to the campus’s Research Corridor and is at the edge of the campus that faces the new Novus Innovation District. The ISTB7 project is envisioned as an opportunity for public outreach for the entire research community at ASU to showcase how their research is changing the world we share. The project is poised to be a destination for visitors from all over the world.

The site is triangular, bounded by two major arterial streets on the north and east and the Valley Metro light rail (including a light rail stop) that run at an angle on the south side in a northwest/southeast alignment. The building design was defined by the unique site geometry – responding to the opportunities of the historic features, the campus / city circulation nexus, and the work of the researchers inside. The use of the building program to define an exterior courtyard space is a time-tested concept in the Sonoran Desert. The strategy of lifting the building off the site and linking it not only to the research corridor to the south on the ground but across University Drive to Novus on the second level allows visual and physical access between the campus and the city at this important gateway. Self-shading strategies derived from cactus inform the shell of the building while the courtyard reveals how shade and water have been combined to create a habitable oasis.