The 5-story, 230,600 SF QUAD student housing project includes 591 dorm rooms, 12,000 SF of academic/student life/event spaces and 20,000 SF of retail commercial space. The ground floor retail is oriented along North City’s main entrance road and features cafes, restaurants and outdoor dining. All parking spaces are located on the campus, encouraging students to walk or bike across to classes and freeing up precious area for green space amenities and Low Impact Design/storm water management areas. The QUAD is comprised of six separate buildings organized around a series of outdoor spaces including a large central courtyard. Exterior bridges and stair towers link the buildings, and sculptural stairways serve clusters of apartments creating natural meeting places for students. The courtyard includes a pool, barbeque area and lounges along the perimeter. The building skin is designed to minimize heat gain, with each elevation responding to the orientation of the building in a unique way. Windows within the alternating angles of the façade are located such that they are shaded by architectural projections above and are screened to minimize solar penetration.