Rutherford + Chekene is providing structural engineering for the design-build team building a new student housing community at UC Santa Cruz. Located on 13 acres near the campus's west entrance, the project will house about 2,900 upper-division undergraduates once complete. Phase 1, the scope of this pursuit, adds four new residence buildings totaling roughly 300,000 square feet and about 1,200 student beds, connected to the rest of campus by an existing pedestrian bridge.

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The design takes its inspiration from the Santa Cruz coastline, with each building reflecting a local landscape, meadow, forest, ocean, and the campus's beloved banana slug, in its materials and color. The site steps with the natural terrain, keeps mature trees where possible, and centers on a green, a market plaza, and a community hub where students can gather.

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Phase 1 also builds the roads, pathways, parking, and stormwater systems that will support a future second phase, and restores that future site with new plantings and pathways in the meantime.

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