In 1997, North Park College became a University and expanded its educational mission. To reflect this change, North Park needed campus grounds that better reflected a liberal arts aesthetic.
A stroll through North Park's campus in the 1990s highlighted its 100 year history in unflattering ways. Students lacked destinations for outdoor recreation and relaxation, circulation patterns were outdated, plant health was poor, and the latest campus addition, a new library, was cut off from the rest of campus by a city street and alley filled with parked cars, power lines and, often, piles of plowed snow.
The landscape architect's solution was to vacate the city street and alley, bury the power lines, and establish a new circulation system that incorporated meeting 'nodes' and a new campus green to enliven the campus' outdoor space.
A horticultural and hardscape solution was designed and immediately impacted the area. Ground plantings were chosen for simple maintenance and as a key element to visually unify the campus. Their scale and mass matured quickly and their structure remained throughout the winter, giving the campus four-season appeal.
Horticultural design gives the campus distinctive character. Seasonal color is located in key connection spaces. The ground plane plantings, which feature native Midwestern grasses, divide spaces into intimate, sheltered areas for relaxation, study and meeting. Over one hundred new trees of varying sizes and textures replaced others that were inappropriate, prone to damage or unhealthy.
Thwarted by a city street and alley filled with parked cars, students found walking to their new library and the seminary an experience of disconnection. The need for better links to the academic and spiritual heart of this campus sparked the landscape architect's innovative idea of vacating the public street and transitioning it into a central axis point at the center of campus.
The impact of North Park's new landscape enlivened the campus. Enrollment has increased and students remain on campus after classes to play frisbee or to relax. Residential neighbors stroll through the "park" with children and pets, and nearby high school students often come through the lush campus full of waving grasses on their way to lunch.
The jury said it was a ". . . great transformation of urban space. . . gave themselves an identity . . . did a really good job providing multiple environments . . ."
Project Team: North Park University with Hoerr Schaudt Landscape Architects, and VOA, architecture. |
