University of Southern California

OPEN GALLERY

Highlights

• Site – 15 acres; Building – 1.2 million sq ft
• Largest mixed-use development in South Los Angeles history.
• Creates new student residential colleges in 6 buildings with 2,500 beds.
• Created 5,400 construction jobs and 800 permanent jobs in the project’s restaurants and shops.
• USC provided $40 million in community benefits including a contribution of $20 million to an affordable housing fund managed by the city.
• Brings much-needed retail options along with more than 20 small business shops, restaurants, and lifestyle amenities to the campus and neighborhood.

Perspectives

The USC Village is a mixed-use, living-learning development that expands the urban campus by 15 acres. Its guiding vision is building a community that is safe, secure, and integrated within the campus—but connected to its urban surrounding neighborhoods—in support of the university’s goal to recruit and retain top quality students. USC’s goal for the Village is centered on student success and the university’s commitment to drive economic development for the underserved surrounding community. The Village is an incubator for campus growth and community redevelopment.

A two-fold planning and design process created the Village: outside-in and inside-out. Outside-in: Ground level planning studied campus and neighborhood connections and access, thus leading to a pattern of paseos and building pads. Inside-out: Planning for the student experience began with the student bedroom, expanding to groups of 50 students with their study rooms and lounges, and expanding out to each residential college.

The USC Village is a seamless addition to USC’s campus, also benefiting the neighborhood. Strategic site planning creates campus and neighborhood integration. Buildings and open spaces form a vibrant pattern of nodes, landmarks, gateways, and walkways that collectively form a campus district. A central piazza connects the paseos and is the heart of the development. Community-building is achieved through a sustainable blend of academic, student life, and retail facilities located at ground level lining the piazza and paseos. These serve the academic and social needs of the campus, as well as daily needs of residents in the neighboring community. The socio-spatial layout fosters student interaction; and the physical framework integrates the Village with the existing campus and surrounding neighborhoods.

Project Team

Harley Ellis Devereaux; also Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction; ARUP; Nabih Youssef Associates; KPFF; RELM; Newson Brown Acoustics; PlanNet Consulting; Stantec; Parking Design Consultants