Two recent graduates of West VirginiaUniversitys program in landscape architecture recently received a commendation for their entry in the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) National Student Design Competition.

Sam Cross and Brian Zollinger, Class of 2002, developed a comprehensive master plan for a mixed-use residential and commercial development consistent with leading edge thinking in neo-urban design. The project Cross and Zollinger referred to as”Woodburn Town Center”has now been renamed by its Morgantown developers as”The Square at Falling Run,”partly in response to the historic ties Cross and Zollinger revealed in their work.

“We wanted to create an area that had an identity as well as character,”Cross said.”We discovered that the site already had character. We just incorporated the deep history that was already there to provide the identity.”

Cross and Zollinger designed the town square to promote a balance between residential development and efficient use of existing site features to reveal the unique identity of the site.

“When we created our version of the town center, we tried to create a place where local residents, students and alumni could all interact and utilize the open space areas that we included in our design,”Cross said.

Their goals for the site were the creation of a mixed-use development that focuses on community interaction and balanced pedestrian circulation, to contribute to efficient vehicular traffic flow around WVU s Downtown Campus, and to create a mixed-use plant that is both economically feasible and enduring. They met that challenge, as evidenced by the developers using a number of the studentsideas. In fact, the developers brought some of the nations top architects in to hear Cross and Zollingers final presentation in May. Crossidea for a glass etching of the Old Mountaineer Stadium may prove to be the Squares focal point.

The ASLA s Student Design Competition is designed to identify and recognize outstanding works of design and research accomplished by landscape architecture students. The competition culminates in selecting first place and commendation winners in undergraduate and graduate categories. A jury of landscape architects chose the winners, and their work will be exhibited at the ASLA s annual meeting in San Jose, Calif., later this month.