Construction recently completed on the $78 million, five-level University Gateway Building at Arizona State University, a 128,000-square-foot building that wraps around the Mill Avenue Parking Structure in Tempe. 

The parking structure, which was completed in late 2023, and the university’s new building are east of Mill Avenue between Ninth and 10th streets, a press release explained.

The University Gateway Building contains classroom, administrative, mixed-use and retail space. 

Owned by ASU, the facility meets educational needs while also introducing retail space on the ground floor. The classrooms will serve the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, which hosts ASU’s music, music therapy, photography, esports, architecture and animation programs.

ASU Facilities Development and Management Vice President Tim Smith said in the release the building marks a milestone for ASU, linking the west side of the Tempe campus to Mill Avenue.

"With its distinctive angular façade, we have a visual showpiece that inspires ideas and innovation,” Smith said. 

With classroom and learning spaces designed to benefit students of the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, the building's third floor was crafted with a sound isolation system to control external and internal sound for instrument practice rooms, group rehearsal spaces, recording studios and a music therapy clinic, according to the release.

The building’s other three academic floors include an e-sports gaming theater, computer lab spaces, film and photography studios, faculty offices and flex study areas. 

Jonathan Kimble, project manager with McCarthy Building Cos., said in the release that while the new parking building was a welcome addition to downtown Tempe, this new building brings students and visitors alike to the west side of campus.

“We know maximizing vertical space in the area is a priority for ASU and the city of Tempe, and this two-part project represents a good example of how that can be accomplished,” Kimble said. 

Guided by ASU’s sustainable objectives, the McCarthy | DFDG design-build team used LEED and Parksmart standards promoted by the U.S. Green Building Council. The combined parking structure and University Gateway Building are projected to meet LEED Silver and Parksmart Gold certifications and include the following features:

• The UGB’s building enclosure is designed as a high-performance thermal, air and vapor envelope;
• The exposed facades of the UGB are designed to minimize direct solar gain with various shading strategies;
• The building is equipped with high-efficiency mechanical systems and controls;
• Electric vehicle charging stations are located on the first and third parking levels;
• Parking structure roof designed accommodate photovoltaic array for power generation;
• Secure indoor bicycle parking with showers and changing rooms to promote alternate modes of transportation;
• The project site is served by both bus and trolly mass transit modes;
• Smart sensor monitored outlets and lights throughout the building;
• Parking structure accommodates underground thermal energy storage for campus cooling.

“As an institution, ASU shares our firm’s commitment to highly sustainable architecture,” said Ryan Schmitt, design project manager with DFDG, in the release. 

Schmitt added it was rewarding to implement a unique shading strategy while also creating an “eye-catching architectural solution.”

The two-part project represents a design-build partnership between DFDG Architecture and general contractor McCarthy Building Cos., the release stated. Completed in late 2023, the Mill Avenue Parking Structure added 1,205 parking spaces to the area and provides designated valet parking for the Omni Tempe Hotel at ASU.