The SMU-in-Taos campus is located outside of Taos along Highway 518 in a rural valley and is currently a summer campus for SMU students to study away from the city.

Surroundings worked with the architects by providing an overall campus site analysis that became a guiding map for siting future student residences, ADA accessible paths throughout, as well as a proposed centralized parking area to promote a better pedestrian environment.

As part of the first phase, collaborating with AOS Architects, a new double student residence was built and obtained a LEED Gold rating. Working with a minimal landscape budget, we created a water conservation strategy that utilizes pumice wicks located around the residence to hold captured water from rooftops and supply it to xeric plantings and trees. Re-seeded meadows are naturally irrigated during the monsoon season.

Prior to construction, we established development impact boundaries around the construction site to minimize impact to the existing sensitive landscape beyond.