SWA/Balsley collaborated with DIG Architects and Montclair State University to reimagine the campus student center, adjacent quad, and connections to the surrounding campus. Through site analysis and project stakeholder meetings, key pedestrian and vehicular circulation routes were identified for resident students, daily commuters, and University staff. The study also identified existing utility corridors, views, key vegetation, and access to parking and buildings. SWA/Balsley’s new plan for the student center area will make it a vibrant destination and a hub for student life. The proposal includes eliminating vehicular and pedestrian conflicts by closing roads, consolidating service functions, and clarifying north-south pedestrian circulation; enlarging and leveling the sunken quad and layering in transverse pathways to encourage free movement and activation of the lawn; introducing generous outdoor lounge areas abutting the revamped student center; and creating a welcoming new rideshare and shuttle arrival area and interstitial plaza spaces that stitch together disparate outdoor spaces into a cohesive and dynamic new landscape.
Soka University
When Japan-based Soka Gakkai International, one of the world’s largest lay Buddhist organizations, decided to establish a fully accredited liberal arts university in southern Orange County, SWA joined with the architects to create a setting that expresses the goals of the new university. Soka means “to create value” and the ideal of Soka education is to foster...
RIT Global Village and Global Plaza
Global Village, a pedestrian-only infill neighborhood adjacent to Rochester Institute of Technology’s academic core, and its mixed-use centerpiece, Global Plaza, create a social heart for 17,200 students and 3,600 faculty and staff. The landscape architects and architects collaborated on an urban design that establishes multiple “crossroads” ...
CyFair College
The CyFair College Campus is a model for environmentally responsible development and restoration of a sensitive ecosystem. Located on the suburban fringe of northwest Houston, it is surrounded by the Katy Prairie, an endangered ecosystem of coastal prairie grass meadows marked by groves of trees and connected to a system of wetlands, bayous, and ponds.
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Northwest Vista College
Northwest Vista College is situated in the oak covered hills west of San Antonio, with beautiful views toward the city and surrounding valley. Previously the design team completed an extensive master plan that accommodated for the expansion of the college facilities to three times its current size. The design seeks to sensitively integrate the nearly 400,000 s...