MONTGOMERYCHOI
19 W HARGETT ST STE 305
RALEIGH NC 27601
HI@MONTGOMERYCHOI.COM
919 609 0519
INSTAGRAM
ARIZONA CENTER FOR 
LAW AND SOCIETY


PHOENIX AZ
UNIVERSITY
2014

WITH ENNEAD ARCHITECTS
While at Ennead Architects, Eliza played a lead role in the design of a new building for Arizona State University’s Law School. The primary goal of the project was to create a modern day law school that makes law more accessible to the public. The building is sliced open to create a public plaza for both the school users as well as Phoenix’s growing downtown population. This connected and activated what was a dead zone in downtown. In addition to serving as the new home for the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, the building also houses several other organizations and centers open to the public to learn about law and justice in today’s society.

The building’s skin peels up on each corner to reveal a variety of public spaces: a bookstore, restaurant, a covered seating area and the ASU Alumni Law group, a teaching law firm that also gives the community access to affordable legal services.

The facade is made from local sandstone and glass panels. The size of glazing corresponds to the program inside - gathering and common spaces have larger glass panels while private offices have smaller glass panels. Vertical fins shade the windows on the east and west sides to reduce solar heat gain and cooling loads as well as to reduce glare.

The organization of the school revolves around three central spaces - a great hall, a central library space, and a planted courtyard. The great hall on the ground floor converts between a casual lounge space to a formal auditorium. It has a massive bi-fold door that connects the great hall to the outdoor plaza for large public and university events. Open air bridges connect the two parts of the building together creating a seamless indoor-outdoor experience throughout the building.

WORK


LAB



WHO




WE PRACTICE ARCHITECTURE BECAUSE WE LOVE CITIES
ELIZA MONTGOMERY is an architect, urbanist and native of downtown Raleigh.

Her experiences living and working in New York City over 12 years have given her both passion and expertise in solving complex architectural and urban issues. Prior to founding MontgomeryChoi, she was an Associate at Ennead Architects (formerly Polshek Partnership) in NYC for 7 years. There she designed a range of cultural, institutional and mixed use projects around the country and world. But her true passion lies in extending her design skills past the traditional field of architecture.

Eliza co-leads the Rethinking Refugee Communities project, a collaboration with Ennead Lab and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees that addresses the growing and protracted crises affecting the lives of refugees and their host communities. She's visited, analyzed and designed refugee settlements around the world including in Rwanda, Jordan and Nepal and has lectured extensively on the subject. Eliza has taught as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Pratt Institute and has led design workshops for multidisciplinary participants at The New School and other organizations.

Eliza is a registered Architect in North Carolina and New York. She is a Fellow at the Urban Design Forum in NYC. Eliza has a Master of Architecture degree from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies from Bard College.

WILL CHOI is an architect with a keen interest in the link between the shapes of our cities and the shapes of our communities. 

Through a decade of practice working with internationally recognized offices such as Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects and SHoP Architects, Will designed and led projects in urban centers around the country that fostered his appreciation for the way buildings may transform the surrounding communities, but more importantly, how communities may transform the design of the buildings, and ultimately cities. 

Will has held faculty positions at the Parsons School of Design in New York City, and maintains a passion for teaching. He can often be found serving as an invited juror at various institutions, including Columbia University, NYU, and NC State University. Will is a registered architect in North Carolina and New York.

Will holds a Master of Architecture from Harvard University, and a Bachelor of Design from University of Florida, but considers his best education the life lived hopping around great cities. That’s Seoul, New York, Boston, and of course, Raleigh!



CONTACT

HI@MONTGOMERYCHOI.COM

919 609 0519

OFFICE

19 W HARGETT ST SUITE 305

RALEIGH NC 27601 

SOCIAL