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South Village, CSULA
Los Angeles, CA
A community experience.
Increasing student success.
Strong residential community through design
California State University Los Angeles (CSULA), recognized as a leader in upward mobility for students, is committed to increasing graduation rates. To support this goal, CSULA teamed with HED to design their new student housing development, home to 1,500 freshmen student beds, to improve student engagement and matriculation. The South Village creates an inclusive ‘freshman experience’ for new students by creating a strong residential community through design that supports student success. First generation, diverse and freshmen students are best supported for success with a residential experience and community.

The South Village is designed to promote diversity and inclusion via small community floors, and a strong complement of shared common spaces for living and learning. The South Village utilizes a village concept of ‘neighborhoods’ to create a strong residential community that supports student success and builds community through shared amenities, including support spaces such as dining, a convenience store, study and lounge spaces, a fitness center, administrative and student life offices, classrooms, and 4 faculty/staff apartments. The mixing of these amenities creates a sense of a vibrant community that supports student success by creating social connection and a sense of belonging. Featuring double and triple bedrooms in small communities with gender-inclusive community bathrooms, the 8-story building wraps around a park, with each of the three segments possessing a separate identity with long-range views to different regional mountains and hills. The midrise towers meander along the edge of campus, with long-range views from all rooms, arrayed around a park.
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Results
CSULA South Village has been selected as a 2023 winner in the DBIA's Western Pacific Region annual Design Build Awards Program.
CSULA South Village Housing has been recognized as a 2022 recipient of the Construction Management Association of America (CMAA) Southern California Chapter Project Achievement Award.
South Village adds 1,500 freshman beds to Cal State LA, providing a ‘freshman experience’ for new students by creating a strong residential community on campus to support their success.
Cal State LA selected collaborative design-build for delivery to best meet their needs for specific housing spaces and functions, staying within the project budget, and meeting time constraints.
This project features extensive use of natural daylight in the common areas, with quiet study rooms oriented to views of the San Gabriel, San Rafael, and Temecula Mountains.
Conceived as a village focused around indoor and outdoor community spaces, South Village includes dining, wellness, meeting, and classroom spaces.
The completion of this project creates a vibrant living-learning residential community.
The building articulates into three housing towers which are distinct but equitable communities.
On each floor, a neighborhood shares a bright and light park-facing lounge, creating a vibrant social hub.
Ground floor amenity spaces activate the adjacent open space and circulation.
Compliant access up the steep hill to the academic campus is provided via a stair/elevator/bridge structure.
Cal State LA South Village is a once-in-a generation opportunity. Because the built environment and specifically housing can have such a profound impact—socially, culturally, economically, and environmentally—this is a rare chance to improve the experience and success of students, their families, and the larger community.”
Brent Miller
Managing Principal and South Village’s Housing Programmer
HED
Project Data
South Village 2017-02792-000
California State University, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
PROJECT SCOPE
New Construction
HED ROLE
Design Architect
RSF/GSF
410,000
CONSTRUCTION COST
$167.0 Million
Project Team
  • Brent Miller
    AIA, LEED AP BD+C
    Principal
    Business Leader | Higher Education
  • Sean Vanderwall
    AIA, NCARB
    Associate
    Architecture and Design
  • Can Cui
    RA
    Associate
    Architecture
  • Michael Bulander
    AIA, LEED AP BD+C
    Principal
    Design / Architecture Leader
  • Manoucher Eslami
    AIA
    Associate Principal
    Architecture
  • Denise Ramos
    NCIDQ
    Interior Design
  • Patsy Shigetomi
    AIA, IIDA, LEED AP
    Principal
    Interior Architecture Leader
  • Duane Fisher
    AIA, LEED AP BD+C
    Associate
    Architecture
  • Martha Ball
    FAIA, LEED AP BD+C
    Principal
    Sector Leader
  • Sungjoon (Joseph) Ahn
    Design
  • Genesis Li
    Design
  • Nikhita Sapuram
    LEED Green Assoc.
    Design
  • Sean Bani
    PE, LEED AP
    Principal
    Electrical Engineering
Increasing student success.
South Village, CSULA
Los Angeles, CA
PROJECT DATA
A community experience.