We have a vast portfolio of postsecondary education work, but one of our most gratifying projects was the Barrett Honors College at Arizona State University, the first purposely designed four-year live-in college in the state, modeled after similar facilities at Ivy League schools. This “campus within a campus” boasts a seven-building, 563,000 square-foot area consisting of six residential towers: three seven-story, two six-story and one four-story, plus a multi-level (one-, two- and five-story) multi-use building that includes residential, classrooms, offices and space for a student dining facility. The goal in designing and constructing this sustainable-living community was to achieve LEED® Silver certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

The project exceeded the Silver requirements and was awarded Gold instead — an honor befitting a project for one of the country’s top honors colleges. In keeping with its sustainable-living mission, Barrett Honors College has instituted a forward-thinking recycling program that has also exceeded expectations, achieving a recycling rate of 92.6 percent, or 7,432 tons.