Four Sasaki Projects Honored by 2024 SCUP Excellence Awards

Alongside our institutional partners, we plan, design, and implement innovative educational environments that enable academic and student-life programs to flourish. Sasaki is honored to have multiple projects recognized, highlighting achievements across each of our design practices  – Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Planning & Urban Design. This year, the following projects were awarded by SCUP: 

1. UC Berkeley Accessible Paths and Places Master Plan
2. Universidad de Lima Center for Technological Innovation
3. Michigan State University Integrated Facilities and Land Use Plan
4. The University of the West Indies, Five Islands Campus Plan

Click on the select projects listed above or read on to learn more about each of the award winning projects.

UC Berkeley Accessible Paths and Places Master Plan – Jury’s Choice Award Recipient

The Accessible Paths and Places Master Plan establishes a cohesive vision and set of projects that create a network of accessible pathways and open spaces throughout UC Berkeley’s Campus Park. The project evolved from the university’s ADA Transition Plan, which cataloged 42,000 accessibility barriers across campus. The plan–which includes design solutions at site and campus-wide scales–goes beyond ADA compliance to embrace human-centered design practices, which focus on each person’s unique experiences and sensory responses in the built environment. 

Rather than leveraging site visits for presentations, the team conducted tours with campus stakeholders and campus leadership; tested and iterated design options in the field using virtual reality (VR); and visited inspirational sites including Tunnel Tops and the Ed Roberts Campus–a model for accessible design. Tactile models and braille maps enabled active and inclusive engagement, while final documentation included both visual final reports and bound volumes of tactile braille maps. Material mock-ups were tested and refined based on feedback from Berkeley’s disability community. The team also hosted a public Human-Centered Design Event with national accessibility leaders to share lessons learned around human-centered design and the history of disability rights.

This novel project advances UC Berkeley’s legacy of disability rights advocacy, and provides a precedent for institutions in addressing accessibility.

Universidad de Lima Center for Technological Innovation – Excellence in Architecture for a New Building Merit Award Recipient

The Universidad de Lima Center for Technological Innovation is a vibrant new center fostering collaboration and cross-disciplinary thinking among students, local industries, and regional institutions. Located in the heart of campus, the facility introduces a network of engineering hubs aligned with the emerging industries of Peru that are showcased as the preeminent programs of each building floor. Woven across the 6-story complex are a series of collaboration spaces, classrooms, laboratories, and an entrepreneurship center featuring pitch spaces, graduate and undergraduate workshops, a multi-use auditorium, and flexible working space for companies in residence. 

The project redefined the character of the academic experience on campus by offering high visibility of the building program from inside and outside. Faculty offices and technical support areas are incorporated into the lab suites to maximize the interaction between students, faculty, and researchers. This is the first building on campus with fully glazed classrooms and laboratories, promoting a more transparent academic experience. 

Michigan State University Integrated Facilities and Land Use Plan – Excellence in Planning for an Existing Campus Honorable Mention Award Recipient

The Vision 2050 Michigan State University Land Use and Facilities Plan provides a roadmap to guide the institution’s growth across its vast network of statewide facilities, including the main campus in East Lansing. The university’s Strategic Plan articulates a vision for the university to be a leader in advancing academic excellence, student success, and a healthy, safe, and welcoming culture and climate for all. Accordingly, the Campus Plan touches the full spectrum of university activity: academics and research, residential life, wellness, open space, mobility, infrastructure, and sustainability. 

The planning process involved extensive stakeholder collaboration from across the university’s departments, deans, leadership and representatives from academic and administrative units. Sasaki’s team conducted over 80 listening sessions with over 660 participants and open houses to provide feedback within each phase of work. Vision 2050 builds on the university’s success and supports academic excellence through compact, mixed-use academic districts, expanding opportunities for research, and preserving the campus park, agricultural lands, and natural areas. The plan also addresses goals to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion through new interior spaces for an increasingly diverse population. Within each campus precinct, indoor gathering spaces anchor significant landscapes, enhancing the sense of community and belonging. Recognizing that today’s diverse population has broader needs for mental, physical, and social well-being, the plan recommends that improvements to the built environment incorporate spaces to build identity, find solace, practice faith, and attend to other physical and mental health needs.

The University of the West Indies, Five Islands Campus – Excellence in Planning for a New Campus Special Citation Award Recipient

The establishment of the new University of the West Indies Five Islands campus (UWI FIC) is in response to the need for increased access to tertiary level education in the islands that comprise the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). The integrated planning process enabled UWI and the Five Islands resident community to come together around a shared vision for the new campus that is rooted in student success and expands access to higher education in an underserved region of the Caribbean. UWI’s vision is to create globally aware, creative students that are critical thinkers, grounded in their regional identity and social and environmental justice issues. The plan supports this by providing innovative indoor and outdoor learning environments, promoting applied learning, and positioning the campus as a living-lab. Academic buildings are designed to promote collaborations with small businesses and entrepreneurs on the island, while the Library, Student Center, and Recreation and Wellness Center are considered amenities for the broader community.

The FIC campus forms a new anchor for the Five Islands Village and a significant community resource that significantly expands the existing facility to create a holistic and multi-disciplinary learning environment that includes academic, research, student life and recreation. All academic facilities are designed to be mixed use and shared by the entire campus with larger spaces intentionally distributed amongst different buildings along the pedestrian spine to encourage collaboration. The master plan aims to set a benchmark for other UWI Campuses by including lower operational expenditure through compact building arrangements, increased density, ease of expansion, inclusivity, energy efficiency and sustainability.