Creative Brief

HMC Architects partnered with EYRC Architects and Hensel Phelps for the UC San Diego (UCSD) Ridge Walk North Living and Learning Neighborhood Design-Build competition which aims to provide much-needed affordable student housing along with academic and social resources. As the home for the historic Thurgood Marshall College, we centered our strategy around diversity, equity, and inclusion in every stage of the 7-month competition. Each member of the 21-firm team had a voice in the strategy, concepts, and final design of the buildings and marketing materials. This wealth of experience and ideas ensured stakeholder engagement with an eye towards minute details like an accessible color palette and target content developed for their needs.   

Using Miro, a virtual whiteboard, 78 individuals worked together on over 25 different boards to collaborate on everything; from pull planning/storyboarding to client presentations, architectural drawing development, and the design and concepts of the materials for the final oral presentation.

Custom templates were developed for all marketing deliverables including the first submission of qualifications, presentations and leave-behinds for client meetings, and the final technical proposal. The graphic concepts of the template evolved alongside the design, pulling colors and textures that materialized in the final building designs to present one cohesive concept. For the final interview, this was showcased in our presentation, boards, renderings, an experiential fly-through video, and a detailed architectural model that now sits in the Chancellors Office.