PROJECT GOALS

Treat 100% of a 25-year storm event

Enhance multi-modal safety and
circulation

Provide infrastructure for collaborative
research and education on campus

A Parking Lot Laboratory for Desert Stormwater
Mitigation, Research, and Education

PROBLEM ADDRESSED

The single function 2.48 acre parking Lot, south of the College of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape
Architecture, is typical of 269 other surface parking lots on the University of Arizona's campus. It provides
minimal shade and no stormwater management.This site's central location is highly used, and is a critical
connection on campus serving over 6,000 students. This parking lot will serve as a demonstration site for
arid environment research, education and outreach, providing a platform for studying and understanding the
role of plants and microbes on remediation of street surface runoff, biogeochemical cycling and permeable
pavement performance. (Re)Searching For a Spot will direct future green infrastructure retrofits on campus,
and utilize its high visibility on campus to influence sustainable development of the surrounding desert.

College of Architecture, Planning, &
Landscape Architecture (CAPLA)

LESS THAN
EXISTING

East Building

PARKING STALLS

UofA Materials Lab
- real-time digital display signage

EXISTING
CANOPY COVER

207o _

CANOPY COVER

West Building

Sonoran Underwood Garden

Welcome plaza

TIME OF CONCENTRATION

EXISTING

TIME OF CONCENTRATION

Dept. of ElectricaL &
Computer Engineering

Existing
concrete swale

-VEGETATION

DECOMPOSED GRANITE

BIOSWALE

148° F

AVERAGE ASPHALT

SURFACE

TEMPERATURE

6,000+

STUDENTS

SURFACE
PARKING AREAS
ON CAMPUS

Center for Creative
Photography

PERVIOUS
PAVEMENT

IMPERVIOUS
PAVEMENT

IMPERVIOUS
PAVEMENT

OF PROTECTED
PATHWAYS

ADA Raised crosswalk

Vehicle Paths
Ped & Bike Paths

Current Flooding
Flow of Water

INFILTRATION CAPACITY

Colored
Pavement

Richard A.
Harvill Building

High Traffic Area

100-year Floodplain

I 4 CAPTURE 1007o OF A

**4 2 YEAR

> 4 STORM EVENT

NEW SPECIES
INTRODUCED

Covered swale with
tree grates

Vegetated research swale

- Cut from existing asphalt

Food truck area

- enough space for 2 trucks

EDUCATIONAL SIGNAGE

Located near research basins, interpretative signage educates
students and visitors about research being conducted. Physical
signage will be displayed and an electronic display housed
in CAPLA East will provide real-time updates of data being
collected in research stormwater basins.

Dept. of Civil
Engineering

Painted
Crosswalk

Research basin area

- 8 separate 5'x8' plots

Motorcycle parking

- same amount as existing

Corten steel bridge

- allow access across swales

Bike racks

- provided 6 new bike racks

UofA Speech
& Hearing Clinics

Seating walls

- poured on site concrete

Permeable pavement

-asphalttesting & pavers



Eating area

- movable tables and chairs

Landmark space

- public art & educational signage

PERSPECTIVE 1

Provide a platform for studying the role of plants and microbes on remediation of
street surface runoff, biogeochemical cycling and permeable pavement performance.

Bioswale

- Native & drought tolerant plants treat
stormwater and aid in infiltration and percolation

Permeable pathway

-ADAcompliant pavers
organized to allow water to
infiltrate	_M&. 1

SECTION A-A

Improved spatial and functional relationships between pedestrian, bike, and vehicle
circulation, while addressing surface runoff, research, and educational activities

Concrete pathway

-allows direct views into
research plots and presentation
gatherings ^

Retrofit existing vegetation

- incorporate plants identified for
research with existing plants

Research Plots

-	8 (5'x8') basins

-	overflow to swale
-varying basin treatments
(organic, barren soil, & rock/riulch)

Rooftop stormwater harvesting

- scuppers direct roof runoff into basins

Vegetated research swale

-	check dams & weirs slow water flow

-	plant groupings used to assess species
infiltration performance

Non-vegetated research basins

-with public viewing access & data collection

Traffic calming

-visual cues & raised crosswalks,
slow traffic for pedestrian safety

Educational signage

- physical & digital

90 degree parking

Computer &

Electrical

Engineering

Creative Center of
Photography

Infiltration and Percolation to
recharge groundwater

Water Flow on Site

(RE)SEARC^ING FOR A SPOT

D7

University of Arizona

Nicole Song, Matthew Lutheran, Aaron Johnson,
Samantha Swartz, Jack Anderson

PERFORMANCE - environmental resilience

PROPOSED o	EXISTING


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