Integrated Design for a Sustainable Future:
The Master Plan

In 2004, SOM's Urban Design & Planning team began work on a site that, according to earlier planning efforts, was planned for a new research lab, future academic buildings, and multi-level parking garage. The site, at the time, was a surface parking lot.

Recognizing its central location, planners identified the site as a campus hinge point: The historic campus, which houses the liberal arts and sciences, is located to the north of the site, while the area to the south is home to the health sciences and medical campus.

The team’s challenge: Numerous technical and infrastructure issues involved in transforming the site from a parking lot into an inspired and integral part of campus.

Planners began by testing the existing plan and program requirements, and examined multiple campus development scenarios with the University. After much discussion with University leaders, the program was adjusted in a manner that both SOM and the University believed was aligned with the overall character of the campus and the objectives within the campus plan. The revised program included a 210,000 ft2 genomic science lab, a 740-car parking garage, a renovated and expanded central utility plant, and a new campus quad.

Planners focused on five key principles, identified and defined during discussions with faculty, students, and campus leaders: identity, clarity, connectivity, ecology, and community.

• The entire identity of this important site has been transformed.
• The site had multiple activities and access issues. Many of the existing utilities, campus services, outdated buildings, paved parking areas, and service access needed to be reorganized; a focus in the clarity of planning was critical.
• Connecting the site to the rest of the pedestrian-focused campus eliminated the site's island-like feel.
• The site is located on the edge of a forest; the plan acknowledges and respects the site's ecology while balancing new development with the existing natural and campus fabric.
• The plan also brought researchers, students, and faculty together to sponsor collegiality and a strong sense of community.

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