This campus, like many others, has suffered from the lack of a coherent plan, rendering its campus experience to a series of passages through disconnected interstitial spaces. A key component of the landscape master plan was the identification of new building sites on campus that would shed light on a comprehensive assessment of open spaces and movement systems. The master plan calls for the removal of unnecessary streets and parking from the central core to make room for a new campus green and promenades together with secondary and tertiary courtyards, greens, and pathways.
The new spaces have redefined the campus image and created a new landscape system that brings visual order and wayfinding to the campus. The plan also includes design guidelines for lighting, furniture, paving, walls, and other landscape elements whose uniformity will contribute to that goal. The first phases of the “Green” and “Promenade” have dramatically and immediately transformed the campus character and finally brought opportunities for outdoor activities and socializing.
Columbia University Landscape Master Plan
As part of a larger development framework plan by Beyer Blinder Belle Architects, Thomas Balsley Associates was commissioned to prepare a landscape master plan for this important historical campus.
The work began with extensive historical research into the original McKim Mead & White plan and Olmsted writings as well as an assessment of current camp...
Tarrant County College
To meet the growing needs of the downtown and North Main communities in Fort Worth, Texas, SWA provided the master plan and landscape design for a new college campus to add to the Tarrant County College District. Designed to be constructed in a series of phases, the project aims to provide a stimulating and rewarding environment for students and the local comm...
UC Davis West Village
UC Davis West Village is a new 225-acre development in Davis, California, that responds to a substantial growth in the number of students, faculty and staff living on the University’s campus. The city of Davis is a unique and cherished community, and great care was taken throughout the design and planning process to pay homage to its history and culture. The n...
Medgar Evers College
This new quad provides a unifying pedestrian connection between Bedford and Franklin Avenues and between existing and new campus buildings, finally providing the campus with a cohesive identity and sense of place. With the dramatic transformation of a parking lot into more campus green space comes the opportunity to integrate a series of sustainability strateg...