The Southwest Career and Technical Academy is a magnet high school located at the corner of Shelboure Ave. and Rainbow Blvd. in Las Vegas, NV.  The site is home to 8 buildings which house the 11 programs offered to the students, with room for a future academy as the schools attendance increases.  The site also includes a football field, baseball diamond, 4 basketball courts and 4 tennis courts.

The landscape was designed with native and southwest adaptive plants.  These were selected to ensure easy maintenance and low water use.  The plant palette and landscape materials were also selected to play off the colors and form of the architectural elements on site, blending this project into the larger context of the neighborhood and surrounding desert.

Within the group of buildings on site is a central courtyard area.  This area was design to give students a break from the classroom atmosphere and give them a place to study or socialize in a more natural environment.  The central courtyard was designed with several seating areas, shaded by trees to provide additional comfort during the warmer times of year.  Fluid walkways carry students from one building to the next and mounded planting areas within the courtyard break up views of the buildings, creating more of a park feel than that of an academy.