Learning By Design: Planning For A New Campus

When the first college campuses were built in the United States in the 1600s, their planners looked to predecessors in Europe, carrying on what were then considered grand traditions. Today’s new campus designs would be unrecognizable to them, as innovative approaches to social equity, resilience, technology, and flexibility are now required to anticipate future needs. SCUP (Society of College and University Planners) has recognized the Long-Range Development Plan for the Oregon State University - Cascades (OSU-Cascades) campus with an Honor Award in Excellence in Planning for A New Campus, and the project was published in Learning By Design Magazine.

The SCUP awards jury commented, “… the plan has a sense of real place… I like how the cut into the cliff is incorporated into the campus… this is the only project that did a complete reclamation of the site…” and perhaps the project team’s favorite: “… knocked it out of the park…”

A key driver of the vision for the 128-acre remediation site of central Oregon’s first four-year university is comprehensive resilience. For example, the OSU-Cascades long-range development plan is designed to achieve triple net zero water, energy, and waste goals as the institution grows. Social resilience will be achieved through integration with the local community through the promotion of arts, culture, enrichment, health, wellness, and sustainability. Enrollment is projected for up to 5,000 students, and the long-range development plan provides affordable student housing for 40% of the student body, as well as 300 units of workforce housing.

Page led the project team, which consists of SERA Architects who collaborated on the campus design and provided strategic sustainability consulting services; MEP engineering consultant PAE; integrated water strategies by Biohabitats; landscape architecture by Walker Macy; structural engineering consultant ABHT; civil engineering consultant DOWL; and accessibility compliance by Karen Braitmayer.

To view the article in the Summer 2018 issue of Learning By Design, click here.

To learn more about the Long Range Development Plan Oregon State University – Cascades, click here.

To see more representative Page campus planning projects, click here.