2006 SCUP/AIA-CAE Awards

Strategic Framework for Physical Planning

Brown University with R.M. Kliment & Frances Halsband Architects

Click to view a pdf presentation of the project.

This comprehensive plan was developed for a university located in a dense urban area, Providence, Rhode Island. The campus was disjointed, is contained within four historic districts, and is surrounded by viable residential neighborhoods who demanded that Brown "stop building on College Hill." Brown, however, wanted to expand its academic programs which required new large research buildings. But there was no space for them. Brown's academic goals are outlined in their Plan for Academic Enrichment. The strategic plan was developed to support this Plan for Academic Enrichment initiatives.

The planning task at hand was to collect data on all related issues. The next phase was spent on exploring ideas and solutions. This open planning effort involved meeting with all stakeholders: the Brown community, the Providence community, members of the business and local institutions, and neighborhood groups. The next step was the development of a blueprint for building construction, and to define other spatial opportunities both current and future.

The planning group identified three recommendations:

• Develop circulation infrastructure to foster community, unify and enhance the campus and its surroundings. This includes development of pedestrian walkways, shuttle systems, and remote parking areas.
• Consolidate the core. Cluster academic growth on College Hill. Seek opportunities for adaptive reuse before new construction. This directive caused "discovery" of 700,000 square feet of under-utilized buildings in key locations, and over 1,000,000square feet of potential infill sites within the core campus area. Six acres of developable land were identified for residential and student life purposes. Return housing to residential use. Forty houses were identified for conversion to residential use. Develop overall landscape plan. Importantly, work with neighborhood groups for mutual goals.
• Move beyond College Hill. Program and spatial needs may be satisfied by expansion into satellite campus areas. An effort to investigate these possibilities is part of the plan. Cooperative efforts with neighborhood and city groups in land use development and adaptive reuse of downtown buildings. A new Director of Strategic Planning was hired to work with the city in planning and acquisition efforts.

Richard Spies, Vice President for Planning and Senior Advisor to the President, has enthusiastically endorsed this strategic plan. "The Brown campus is already a better place as a result of this work and the Plan for Academic Enrichment is moving forward in a much better way than it ever could have without the support of the Strategic Framework." The value of the plan to Brown has been recognized by officials as enormous.