Building Community Through Shared Spaces at UC Santa Cruz Student Housing West
Student Housing West (SHW) at UC Santa Cruz represents an evolution in the student living experience. While distinct from the traditional residential college model that has long defined the university’s undergraduate housing, SHW was designed to cultivate community through new forms of shared space and intentional connections to the landscape. The project creates a dynamic environment where students at every stage of their academic journey can find belonging, support, and opportunities to connect.
The design prioritizes both interior and exterior communal spaces to foster a sense of identity and interaction across the large complex. Within each building, strategically placed floor lounges, study rooms, and social spaces provide students with multiple scales of engagement, from one-on-one conversations to larger group activities. Outdoors, a series of courtyards serve as distinct neighborhood anchors, each offering a different character and experience. The northern courtyard features clusters of trees and an open lawn that encourage casual recreation and social gatherings, while the southern courtyard unfolds across multiple levels. Rustic landscaping, informal seating, and dramatic views define the hillside, which is framed by two socially activated HUB spaces that anchor student life.
The HUBs form the heart of the SHW community. Programmed to support wellness, collaboration, and connection, these facilities are integrated into the buildings and scaled to foster both intimacy and vibrancy. The northern HUB, called the Commons, focuses on collaborative learning and office space. Flexible enough to host study sessions, meetings, or larger gatherings, it provides essential academic and social infrastructure. The southern HUB, the Market and Wellness Center, brings food, dining, and fitness under one roof, creating a destination for both student residents and the larger UCSC community. Together, the HUBs enrich daily life while providing resources and amenities that extend beyond housing.
Graduate housing is located south of the main site, adjacent to the Market and Wellness HUB. Designed to step down a hillside, the building opens onto a flat terrace with sweeping views of meadows and Monterey Bay. Its distinct location maintains separation from the undergraduate residences while ensuring convenient access to shared amenities.
The landscape design roots SHW firmly in UCSC’s campus ethos. By restoring habitat and setting buildings into the forest edge, the project blends natural and built environments in a way that is characteristic of the university. Clearings and courtyards act as transitional spaces between forest and meadow, creating niche-like environments that reflect the campus’s striking visual identity.
Taken together, the undergraduate and graduate housing share common characteristics yet maintain distinct identities, conceived as related parts of a larger whole. Through its courtyards, HUBs, and deep integration with the surrounding landscape, SHW provides a new model for student living—one that builds community through shared experiences, celebrates UCSC’s natural context, and supports both academic and personal well-being.
