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 campus conditions and use patterns. When necessary, circulation has been improved, barren spaces softened, the new venues for contemporary academic social life have sprouted. Those icons of the original masterpiece work, its spatial organization, and its system of lawns, pathways, walls, stairs and distinctive herringbone brick paving have been preserved. The cherished open spaces, even some that were originally designated as building sites, have been preserved as well for the enjoyment of the students.
The harsh North and East Campus zones will be gradually transformed into softer landscape “quads” with shaded lawns and social spaces. This re-knitting of the campus landscape will be accomplished with a carefully-selected palette of materials for paving, walls, fences, stairs, hedges, balustrades and lighting. Lynden Miller perennial and annual garden displays have been added to the academic planting palette of trees, shrubs, hedges and ground covers.
These recommended interventions are in keeping with the campus historic character, yet are responsive to current and future needs. The final report provides a long-range vision for the campus environment and its streetscapes, as well as a design manual for all future site improvements and maintenance, some of which are underway.
New Jersey Institute of Technology Green
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 system...
North Shore LIJ Women's Hospital
As part of the North Shore LIJ Medical Center expansion by SOM, Thomas Balsley Associates was commissioned to design a landscape that reflects both the hospital’s commitment to healing and its reputation as a progressive health care institution. Thomas Balsley Associates has proposed two major landscape spaces for the campus. The first of these spaces is a cam...
Leeum Samsung Museum of Art
From its mountainside perch overlooking Seoul, the Samsung Museum of Art Complex boasts museums by three of the world’s most sought-after architects: Rem Koolhaas, Jean Nouvel and Mario Botta. Uniting these remarkable yet divergent works of architecture is a space of clean and powerful gestures. This elegant, understated landscape serves as their matrix and mu...
Success Academy K-12 Campus
Success Academy’s first ground-up campus brings together elementary, middle, and high school under one roof in the South Bronx—a community historically underserved by public infrastructure. The project establishes a dignified and aspirational new presence for one of the nation’s largest and highest-performing public charter networks. Designed by SO...