The 458,000-square-foot, 7-story Tooker House on the campus of Arizona State University (ASU) in Tempe is the living and learning center for freshman and sophomore engineering students. Such a focused population provided architecture firm Solomon Cordwell Buenz and landscape architecture firm Trueform Landscape Architecture Studio the opportunity to exhibit engineering principles through actual site and building design.

In the Arizona desert, water has a strong influence on landscape design and vegetation choices. At Tooker House, the building and landscape architecture tells the story of utilizing water in responsible ways. “The site is large enough to exhibit the narrative of water in different locations,” explains Todd Briggs, principal of Trueform Landscape Architecture Studio. “We selected permeable surfaces such as pervious pavers and stabilized decomposed granite and designed bioswales into the landscape to retain water.”

The courtyard is envisioned as an event and gathering space of various scales both day and night. The campus standard for area lighting is a 14-foot-tall fixture, and Briggs realized he would need to specify numerous fixtures to light the courtyard effectively. “We saw an opportunity to incorporate a different light,” says Briggs, “something tall enough to illuminate the entire space evenly and effectively while using minimal poles.” Briggs recommended Landscape Forms’ Arne area light for its ability to gang luminaires on the pole and make light more directional. “With such a broad space, the ability to direct the light is helpful.” Landscape Forms lighting specialists helped with a photometrics analysis to verify Briggs’ plan met the ASU's criteria.

Beyond Arne lights, Briggs selected a number of Landscape Forms site furnishings. Parc Centre chairs and Catena tables are campus standards and were used in the courtyard and dining area— the “nexus” of the Tooker House, says Briggs. Campus standards Annapolis bollards, Austin benches, and Custom litter receptacles round out the site elements.

Briggs is proud of Tooker House’s location on the ASU campus at the end of Palm Walk, the iconic walkway that runs through the campus. “I’m a second-generation ASU Sun Devil,” says Briggs. “And the prominence of Tooker House’s location at the end of a walkway that connects the campus means a lot to me. I look forward to seeing how the space evolves over time.”