The Goal
We're Over Halfway There!
How can you be a part of our future?
Help us transform CAPLA West into a modern architectural accomplishment that prioritizes student needs.
The Project
With a 30% increase in undergraduate student growth over the past five years, it's time to transform the CAPLA West Building into one of the nation's premier post-COVID spaces for design students.
Our growth translates to nearly 150 additional students per cohort working in our studio space. This increase in enrollment requires us to take our current footprint and optimize it by improving capacity and usability.
With your support, our reinvigorated building will be more energy-efficient, healthy and adaptable—a showcase space where faculty and students can build a changing world. Our plans include:
Expanded, Adaptable Studios
Upgrades will provide much-needed additional studio space that will inspire the learner and teacher with an environment that is light-filled, accommodating different instructional configurations and creating a foundation for future innovative building phases.
Air Quality and Handling
We will add a new north curtain wall with fully automated operable window systems and energy recovery ventilation, allowing for vastly improved air quality and the use of natural ventilation.
Learning Laboratory
Renovated spaces will serve as pedagogical tools for our faculty and students, allowing for data collection and real-time monitoring of healthy indoor environments.
The Benefits
» Provide for a growing student body and facilitate new ways of teaching and learning, enabling us to use the best of in-person learning combined with our newly acquired digital opportunities.
» Time-tested approaches to passive cooling and ventilation combine with forward-looking technology. Students and faculty will interact with and utilize the renovated building systems as teaching and learning tools.
» Expansive and flexible studios to capture light and promote natural ventilation—bringing back the spirit of the West Building's original open-air courtyard in a reconceived, energy-conscious way.
» Light-filled breakout spaces adjacent to faculty offices will promote collaboration and active learning on a variety of scales.
» Increased energy efficiency consistent with the pedagogy of net-zero architecture that students are studying.
Anticipated Envelope Performance
Replacement of the uninsulated curtain wall provides significant benefit to overall building envelope performance. Installing a thermally broken, curtain wall system with high-performance glazing is key to reducing annual energy consumption for the building.
Give Now
You are an important part of the CAPLA community, and we are grateful for your support. We are over halfway to our goal of $8.7 million. Help us get there by contacting Angie Smith, director of development, at angiesmith@arizona.edu or 520-621-2608.