Winner of the 2025 WLA Awards – Outstanding Award in the Built Commercial Landscape Design category
Helios Education Foundation & Vince Roig Convening Center is a 3.14-acre project in Phoenix, Arizona is sited between a major arterial street and a secluded, established neighborhood – adjacencies that required protection from traffic noise, defense against flooding in the street during even mild storm events, and a robust landscape buffer between the campus and residences. The Foundation desired a building and landscape designed to last at least 100 years that would bring people in education together. The site and building work in partnership to blur the lines between landscape architecture and architecture, significantly reduce potable water and energy use, provide opportunities for enhanced educational rethinking and improved mental health and wellbeing.
Evoking natural patterns of Arizona’s unique geology, the hardscape is sculpted in response to climate, orientation, and urban influences. The courtyard, designed as the primary pedestrian and social space, minimizes the building’s conditioned space. An elevated boardwalk allows surface runoff to move freely through the deck, improving stormwater management, humidity, evapotranspiration, and providing additional soil mass for mature tree growth in over-structure conditions. Porches and event spaces were enhanced with designed custom pre-cast furniture.
Water in the Sonoran Desert is precious – every drop counts. Precipitation is infrequent, yet intense, often overwhelming the storm drain system. No potable water is used for irrigation or for the water feature, contributing a 58% reduction over baseline Site Energy Use Intensity (EUI). A32,000g retention tank captures and treats stormwater, sink, shower and canal water for reuse on site. This project realizes the first ROW bioswale and case study for Phoenix. A stunning three-story water feature, inspired by columns of shifting sands off canyon ledges, is fed by reclaimed water and cools the courtyard by an estimated 15°F. Large slot openings in the structure convey shafts of daylight to lower levels. Two grand staircases, conceived by the landscape architect, graciously descend from ground level to the parking level, encourage the use of stairs over elevators.
In this hot, arid climate, shade is the single most important element necessary to facilitate social connection. 90% of the landscape is located above an underground parking garage. To combat the heat island effect and promote well-being, outdoor spaces leverage shade from the building, enabling year-round use. The texture-rich desert gardens contrast beautifully with the striking contemporary architecture. The gardens are comprised of all native or desert-adapted, shade tolerant plants requiring little maintenance and are arranged to optimize biomass. As a buffer to the east, dense, low water consumption trees screen the building from the neighborhood.
Garnering public support for the campus’s location near a long-established residential neighborhood was politically sensitive. The landscape architect met individually with all neighbors and designed landscape screening on their private properties and uninterrupted pathways through the site. Through a highly collaborative process that mirrored the philosophy of the Foundation, an iconic campus was created as a beacon of excellence and a critical resource for the education community. The integration of energy and water-conscious design, dynamic landscapes and public art results in a physical expression of resilient design in the urban Sonoran Desert.
Helios Education Foundation & Vince Roig Convening Center
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Landscape Architect: Colwell Shelor
Architect: Architekton
Photography Credits: Caitlin Atkinson