Integrated Planning Marketplace

Firm Description

Dober Lidsky Mathey is a campus planning firm that advises and assists colleges, universities, and schools with campus development, facility and programming decisions.

Our team is comprised of campus and facility planning experts, supported by a staff of landscape designers, data analysts, and graphic designers. Based in Belmont, Massachusetts, Dober Lidsky Mathey (formerly Dober Lidsky Craig + Associates, Inc.) has served the higher education community since 1958.

Over the years, we have worked with hundreds of clients in virtually every state in the U.S., and spearheaded dozens of international projects, as well.

Philosophy
Many firms offer campus and facility planning services, but DLM is different. We exist solely to serve our clients’ planning needs. For us, institutional planning projects are our focus and, as such, get the full, energetic attention of our principals and highly experienced staff.

Role of Planning in Campus Development
We view the planning process as a set of distinct, critical, and frequently short-changed steps on the path to comprehensive campus development. All too often, we have seen the results of insufficient or ineffective planning: the misplaced buildings; the awkward, expedient building additions; the under-developed open spaces; the dumpster greeting visitors at the main campus entrance; and the unhappy campus bursting at the seams for want of a compelling vision of the future. We believe that working with our clients to address their campuses creatively, extensively, and in-depth is the best way to avoid these mistakes and build a robust and dynamic future.

Approach
As students of campuses ourselves, DLM has investigated the elements which make campuses special places and, just as importantly, the elements which make them effective. Our approach begins in working directly with our clients to understand their mission, vision, needs and concerns followed by meaningful data analysis to support decision-making. We then use this knowledge to develop unique solutions most appropriate to meeting their challenges and advancing their mission. We do not approach the planning process with a particular design perspective. Rather, we see design as a critical theme for reinforcing the reasoned decisions made through the initial stages of the comprehensive planning process.

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