SCUP Excellence in Planning for an Existing Campus,
Honor Award

Drexel University for Drexel University Campus Master Plan with Goody Clancy

Rendering provided by Goody Clancy

Rendering provided by Goody Clancy

Click on image above for larger view.

Drexel University had improved its competitiveness and increased enrollment, but campus capacity and character needed to catch up with its growth.

The campus master plan includes a focus on expanding housing and retail choices, improving public school education, and broadening arts and small business employment opportunities in adjacent neighborhoods to benefit residents and help Drexel attract target faculty, staff and students.

Four principles and strategies were identified: distinguish Drexel as a vibrant urban university district; bring the campus to the street; draw the community together around shared places, and expand the innovation community.

The jury said, “ . . . very laudable plan . . . excited and eager to see the plan move forward and be realized . . . it’s all we want a university to be . . . responsible, ties together its own work and how it is relevant in the world . . .”

Distinct themes influenced activities and development in different areas of Drexel’s urban campus district. The plan shapes the character of each street in supporting these themes.

Design and land use guidelines recast Drexel’s image as thoroughly engaged with its community, replacing legacy suburban buildings that were withdrawn from streets.

Intensifying the overlap of campus and community activities enhances quality of living and learning. Locating mixed uses in walkable proximity promotes interpersonal interaction among students, faculty, staff, private-sector partners and the community

A phased development approach for new academic space enables program expansion, consolidation of remote facilities, and progressive renovation of existing facilities. Understanding urban real estate economics is also helping Drexel leverage valuable land resources to support its mission.

“By immersing students in the life of the city flowing through campus, the plan deepens experiential education and engagement in society’s great problems. It breaks new ground in conceiving the campus as an urban district, enriched through its overlaps with its city,” says Robert Francis, Vice President of Drexel University.

Project Team: Drexel University with Goody Clancy; also Andropogon Associates; Kittelson & Associates; Rickes Associates; W-ZHA; Meloria Environmental Design