Helios Education Campus

The Helios Education Campus is a contemporary revisioning of the arid-responsive garden office. The campus is comprised of the Helios Education Foundation offices, office space for non-profit partners, and a convening space open to education-centric public use. Combined, the campus is a place to promote and advance education policy and discourse in Arizona, Florida, and across the country.

The site is optimized by siting the 2-story building over a daylit subterranean carpark, part of which is designed to adapt to future office space when parking needs diminish.

Entering the site below grade, sloped landscaped tiers bring natural light into the carpark. Natural light is mirrored off the planar silver metallic ceiling which directs one’s experience inward towards the centrally-located exterior staircases that provide guests a layered view: revealing the ground level of the campus and showcasing an 80ft tensioned rain chain and the ambient sound of water – a welcomed and celebrated sound in the desert.

Using the stairs, you emerge into a courtyard protected from the sun with sculpted overhangs that meander playfully along the edges. Landscaped berms and lush plantings provide a sense of retreat while silencing the sounds of the city. The courtyard, much like the mission of Helios Education Foundation, aims to connect and advance.

From above, the board room frames the view of the courtyard while the offices share outdoor patios and crafted views of Piestewa Peak. One begins to feel the expression of the geometry on this second level as narrow western apertures reveal the faceted façade and knife-edge vertical fins mitigate the level of light in the space. At times, the exterior ACM copper metallic panels that clad the exterior visually disappear as the sheen of the panel and the hue of the sky merge – a moment of intangible happenstance and well-composed cohesion.