Haverford College for the Campus Master Plan, with Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates, Inc.; also Andropogon Associates; Brinjac Engineering, Inc.; Hunt Engineering Company; Keast & Hood Company; URS Corporation; International Consultants, Inc.

courtesy Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates, Inc.

          
Campus Framework                                              A system-wide network of paths and greens

courtesy Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates, Inc.

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The charge of the Haverford College Master Plan was to prepare a new document to guide long-term planning in response to new academic and institu­tional directives. It needed to support community interac­tion and a more sustainable campus.

Planning started as the new college president began his term and coincided with an academic assessment that set the direction for the college’s strategic plan. The plan aligned the physical campus to the college’s academic, student life, envi­ronmental, administrative and financial goals, con­sidered policies and schedules, buildings, landscapes, hydrology, transportation, and utilities.

The plan creatively reanimates the historic core while providing lively connections to newer facilities beyond the center. The plan recommends growing within existing space when possible and logical, and suggests uses for both existing and new structures.

Preserving and enhancing images central to Haverford’s physical identity, especially Founders Green and the Nature Trail, is achieved by more efficient use of existing buildings and locating new buildings within the core. New construction will reflect Haverford’s historic buildings – simplicity, beauty and permanence – but with greater transparency and openness.

Two pedestrian axes extending through and beyond the campus core set future development parameters. New buildings will be oriented along these axes, enlivening paths and connecting campus uses. New greens are also organized along these paths. Structuring new development along these paths preserves the college’s beloved landscapes and vistas.

The plan addresses energy reduction including building a more efficient central plant, reusing exist­ing space more efficiently, building on previously disturbed sites, minimizing building footprints, add­ing structured parking, enhancing pedestrian connec­tions, retaining faculty housing within walking distances, and supporting more bicycle use.

The jury said, “ . . . planning process was well documented . . . seemed to integrate academic plan and strategic goal . . . gives good sense of scale and place . . .”

Project Team: Haverford College with Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates, Inc.; also Andropogon Associates; Brinjac Engineering, Inc.; Hunt Engineering Company; Keast & Hood Company; URS Corporation; International Consultants, Inc.