North Atlantic 2026 Regional Conference

How Stakeholder Engagement and Data Analysis Guided a Building Transformation

Presented by: Liam Lowry, Principal, Flad Architects | John Robitaille, Senior Planner for Facilities Capital Delivery, Yale University | Joseph Schlosser, Senior Program Planner, Yale University | Doug Winning, Science Planner, Flad Architects

We will share how we conducted a comprehensive study to reposition an office building as Yale University’s new biomedical research hub. To maximize wet lab research in the outdated office building, we performed a robust analysis of existing building conditions and diverse stakeholder needs, encompassing existing conditions, capacity, program needs, and operational efficiency. From this analysis, we developed a research environment framework that is flexible, repeatable, and maximizes return-on-investment while meeting Yale’s sustainability and design goals. Learn how to use data-driven, cross-functional planning to evaluate potential building transformation options in alignment with institutional goals and priorities.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Identify the quality and potential capacity of current systems and space through investigation and data analysis.
2. Apply benchmarking metrics to create a research environment framework that supports evolving science and technology.
3. Actively engage stakeholders to gain consensus and buy-in of the overall vision.
4. Prioritize investment in infrastructure and functional improvements to yield the highest return.

Integrated Physical Planning for Mind and Body at Wellesley College

Presented by: Alvin Hung, Assistant Director of Planning and Design, Wellesley College | Michelle Maheu, Associate Vice President, Planning, Design & Construction, Boston University | Amanda Vigneau, Director, Shepley Bulfinch | David Whitehill, Principal, Shepley Bulfinch

Wellesley College’s recent planning and campus renewal efforts demonstrate how integrated planning can drive meaningful transformation in both academic and wellness spaces. This session explores two projects: the renovation of the Margaret Clapp Library and the new Vivian A. Kao ’04 Health and Counseling Center. These projects were shaped to fit into campus-wide sustainability, accessibility, student support, and wellness strategies. We will share how goals across fiscal, learning, wellness, and sustainability domains were brought together to achieve a holistic design with broad institutional alignment. You will gain practical tools for fostering transparency, navigating competing needs, and developing projects that reflect evolving campus values.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Develop flexible planning frameworks to guide and inform future projects, ensuring those projects support institution-wide sustainability and student success goals.
2. Describe spatial program and design decisions that support institutional goals for student well-being and learning.
3. Generate optimized and technically complex facility upgrade plans that coordinate and balance contending goals for decarbonization, student well-being and academic success, and deferred maintenance.
4. Lead inclusive planning processes that build trust across campus constituencies and apply engagement strategies to align design decisions with stakeholder needs.

One Voyage, One Map: Sailing Toward Unified Planning and Accreditation

Presented by: Nasrin Fatima, Associate Provost for Assessment and Analytics, Binghamton University

In a stormy era of shrinking enrollments, tight budgets, and public scrutiny, institutions need both a shared map and a steady compass to reach resilience and excellence. Set sail on a voyage where accreditation and strategic planning become one mission-driven journey. By aligning institutional goals with accreditation standards, this approach trims redundancy, strengthens coherence, and embeds lasting improvement. Through case studies and interactive discussion, you will gain a navigational toolkit—practical frameworks, adaptable templates, and dynamic mapping resources—that streamlines evidence collection, dismantles silos, and guides institutions toward sustained improvement with clarity, efficiency, and agility.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Plot a route that embeds accreditation standards into strategic planning and resource decisions.
2. Steer cross-functional crews—academics, facilities, finance, community partners—through one coordinated planning voyage.
3. Deploy automation and dashboards as navigational instruments to simplify documentation and evidence gathering.
4. Anchor continuous improvement by creating an institutional map that sustains alignment through changing tides.

Two Campuses, One Vision: Uniting Northern Essex Community College

Presented by: Michael McCarthy, Executive Vice President – Chief Financial and Operating Officer, Northern Essex Community College | Sarah Tarbet, Senior Associate, Jones Architecture

As institutions grapple with resource challenges, grand plans are costly and rarely realized. Instead, modest solutions that leverage existing facilities are more likely to succeed. Confronted with limited resources and divergent paths for two campuses, Northern Essex Community College needed modest yet thoughtful solutions to address challenges related to campus identity, classroom utilization, fragmented student services, space mismatches, and wayfinding. This session will share a master planning process that focused on adjustments to existing buildings and campus fabric, providing the institution with ways to unite the campus, streamline access, prioritize equity, and elevate the student experience.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Frame each campus project as an opportunity to inch your campus closer to an environment that supports a broad range of lived experiences.
2. Cultivate connections that serve students before, during, and after their collegiate career.
3. Leverage small decisions toward reaching big picture goals and unlocking future opportunities.
4. Untangle existing organizational models to create intentional planning, branding, and wayfinding strategies that elevate the student experience.

A Partnership for True Sustainability: Student Housing at USM

Presented by: Glenn Cummings, Green Schools, Director, State of Maine | John Martin, Principal, Elkus Manfredi Architects | Walker May, Executive Vice President, Capstone Development Partners | Nick Vaughn, Senior Principal | Director of Education Practice, SMRT Architecture Engineering Planning

In this session, we will share planning challenges and opportunities related to delivering cost effective student housing and a welcoming, public facing student center for all. Using a public-private partnership (P3) delivery model, the University of Southern Maine (USM) developed these projects with a goal of benefiting its community, students, and the surrounding environment. You will learn how innovative partnerships can create low-cost student housing that can then be leveraged to offer a wide range of services to the campus as a whole, not just the residents in the building.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Use public-private partnerships (P3) to leverage future student housing revenues toward fostering a synergistic program for student success and well-being.
2. Enhance social equity by creating spaces that support more academic and personal support services for students, increasing access to housing and providing more welcoming social spaces.
3. Use new building initiatives to improve campus open spaces and connectivity, creating access and opportunity for the local community.
4. Outline specific sustainable design practices for student housing that lower energy consumption, embodied carbon, and lifecycle costs.

Integrating Academic, Institutional, & Physical Planning: Finding Common Ground

Presented by: Becky Copper, Dean, School of Graduate, Online and Continuing Education, Fitchburg State University | Nasrin Fatima, Associate Provost for Assessment and Analytics, Binghamton University | Michael Nieminen, Architect & Planner

Integrated planning aligns priorities and drives results. Yet institutional, academic, and physical planners often work in silos, resulting in frustration and miscommunication. Balancing the needs of these three groups requires comprehensive and inclusive solutions. This session offers strategies to foster collaboration and promote shared dialog between these functions. Through multiple examples, we will explore innovative, inclusive strategies that respond to all stakeholder voices. You will leave the session with actionable advice for adopting integrated planning, leading to broader stakeholder engagement and more successful project outcomes.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Develop an innovative strategy for using an integrated planning approach on a range of projects, bringing institutional, academic, and physical planners together at the same table.
2. Leverage data-based research and analysis to better inform tailored outcomes that lead to greater student success, wellness, academic advancement, and institutional recruitment.
3. Craft a detailed planning and programming process that researches all stakeholders from an institutional, academic, and physical planning perspective and strives to develop a common vocabulary.
4. Make the integrated planning journey a shared experience upfront to maximize the mutual benefits and satisfaction that truly collaborative processes can yield for institutional, academic, and physical planners.

Integrating Physical Planning & Operations for the Future of Yale’s Collections

Presented by: James Fullton, Senior Architect/Planner, Yale University | Nathaniel Rogers, Partner, Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners LLP | Elizabeth Williams, Senior Director for Collections & Scholarly Communication, Yale University

Integrating physical planning with operational and policy initiatives extends the impact of capital projects. When Yale University decided to renovate its Collection Studies Center (CSC), it recognized the opportunity to move independently operated museum and library units toward a more collaborative and efficient future of shared spaces, resources, and operations. This session will share the process for Yale’s CSC Vision Plan, which engaged stakeholders in an integrated process that analyzed current and future needs and provided a roadmap for rational growth and operational efficiencies. We’ll discuss project governance and decision-making, stakeholder engagement, physical planning, and operational implications.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Structure and guide a multi-stakeholder programming and planning process.
2. Establish guiding principles to focus decision-making during a planning process.
3. Tailor modes of planning engagement to match a diverse range of stakeholder groups.
4. Evaluate the operational impacts of physical planning decisions and vice versa.

Planning for Impact: A Framework for Inter-Professional Space Planning

Presented by: Debra Burnett, Interim Dean, Springfield College | Karen Parzych, Architect, Principal, The S/L/A/M Collaborative | Mark Rhoades, Architect, Senior Designer, Associate of the Firm, The S/L/A/M Collaborative

This session explores the integrated planning process behind Springfield College’s new Brown Cooper Health Sciences Center, an inter-professional facility serving five academic disciplines. We will share how inclusive stakeholder engagement, space utilization analysis, and projected program growth informed the programming and design of a facility that not only supports discipline-specific and collaborative learning environments but also reshapes the campus edge and strengthens ties to the surrounding community. You will gain practical strategies for space planning, course mapping, and designing flexible environments that support long-term academic and institutional goals.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Conduct a data-driven space utilization analysis for an established program using a course mapping exercise.
2. Establish stakeholder groups centered around ‘space themes’ and ‘affinities’ rather than by discipline to contribute to new synergies and a more efficient building.
3. Maximize value by considering your facility as part of a campus network, and consider how existing space on campus can supplement your new facility and what lessons can be learned from your existing space.
4. Generate a planning parti (or design concept) that supports a diverse range of space types and scales while maintaining straightforward wayfinding and constructability.

Bridging Tradition and Innovation: Integrated Planning for Historic Preservation

Presented by: Kathleen Farewell, Principal, Zubatkin Owner Representation, LLC | James Kellerhouse, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Strategic Initiatives, Vanderbilt University | Carmen Menocal, Partner, Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners LLP | R. J. Panda, Vice President, Project Management, Cumming Group

Higher education campuses must evolve while honoring their heritage. This session examines integrated planning approaches at Princeton Theological Seminary and Vanderbilt University’s New York City campus, two distinct institutions navigating similar challenges: historic preservation, operational continuity, and shifting programmatic needs. Through real-world examples, the panel will share strategies for aligning mission and facilities, managing construction on active campuses, and fostering trust among stakeholders and communities. You will learn how to apply radical flexibility, financial modeling, and transparent engagement during your planning process in order to create multipurpose spaces, mitigate risk, and demonstrate institutional momentum.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Identify strategies for balancing historic preservation with modern programmatic needs.
2. Apply integrated planning principles to manage decision-making and construction within operational campuses.
3. Develop stakeholder engagement frameworks that foster transparency and trust.
4. Design financial planning models that align capital and operating costs with institutional priorities and community impact.

Data into Action: Student-Centered Planning at Rhode Island College

Presented by: Basak Alkan, Campus Planning Principal, HDR, Inc. | Lauren Gauthier, Education and Science Principal, HDR, Inc. | Cindy Kozil, Vice President Student Success, Rhode Island College

Declining enrollments and funding make it challenging to address the myriad needs of today’s students related to campus grounds and facilities. A data-driven approach using space, occupancy, and survey data helps eliminate guesswork for investments. Learn how Rhode Island College, an institution focused on social mobility, used its data-driven master plan to define high-impact investments for its students. We’ll share how we used multiple data sources—including AI-driven occupancy analytics, map-based surveys, space use studies, and a multi-campus student wellness research study—to align investment plans with student needs.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Define the physical, mental, social, and holistic support needs of today’s students and how the design of campus environments can impact these needs.
2. Identify small-cost, easily implementable design and space interventions that can have an outsized impact on student well-being.
3. Use a data-driven, inclusive master planning process to develop a framework that ensures future space and design changes improve student success and well-being.
4. Describe an integrated planning approach that incorporates data from research, analyses, and surveys to inform strategic investments in the built environment.

Data-driven Planning for a New Campus Neighborhood: Four Perspectives

Presented by: Kimberly Barnett, Principal, LDa Architecture & Interiors LLP | Carla Ceruzzi, Associate Principal | Architect, Sasaki | Heidi Sokol, Senior Campus Planner, Tufts University | Daniela Sousa, Director of Facilities and Support Services, Tufts University

Incremental moves have a major impact when guided by a clear, long-term vision. Using a 10-year case study of Tufts University’s residential life master plan, this session discusses how a cluster of small existing buildings was transformed into a cohesive residential neighborhood at the campus edge. We’ll share the project story from planning, design, and end-user perspectives, illustrating how land use, circulation, building condition, accessibility, landscape, architecture, and campus life intersect in a successful outcome. Join us to learn how data-driven planning shaped a new campus neighborhood, and hear lessons we learned along the way.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Make the case for data-informed, holistic planning—not only for large-scale projects but also for more incremental strategies—to ensure that every project is in support of institutional goals.
2. Identify ways to build upon existing resources by organizing them under one vision that covers multiple scenarios to create a campus-specific, economical, and flexible framework for implementation.
3. Identify critical considerations for the reuse of existing buildings: metrics, cost and code triggers, and design choices that make the project feel like a cohesive part of the institution.
4. Use hands-on experience and lessons learned from your project’s users to inform the implementation of housing plans focused on community-building, whether through adaptive reuse or new construction.

Revitalizing More with Less to Meet Critical Campus Needs

Presented by: Ben Carlson, Principal, Goody Clancy | Lisa Ferreira, Principal, Student Life Practice Leader, Goody Clancy | Barbara Masaitis, Director of Capital Planning, Bridgewater State University | Monica Meyerhoff, Vice President | Principal, Rickes Associates, Inc

Big projects (like new and fully-renovated buildings) can take 5 to 10 years to fund, design, and build. Revitalization of existing campus assets can provide a time- and cost-efficient response to mission-critical needs. Bridgewater State University has delivered a series of timely, meaningful building renovations through modest-scale, high-impact projects responsive to student input. In this session, we will share strategies to conceive and execute impactful campus improvements. You’ll learn practical approaches and tips for data analysis, stakeholder engagement, conceptual project planning and design, project funding, and construction management.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Right-size building renovations and additions to deliver impact while efficiently using space, time, and money.
2. Analyze facilities utilization to find opportunities to rethink and repurpose underused assets.
3. Collaborate with municipalities to fund and build streetscape and pedestrian safety improvements, providing shared benefit to the institution and the surrounding community.
4. Manage campus construction to minimize disruption and maximize benefit.

A Five-Step Roadmap to Implement Beneficial Electrification Campus-wide

Presented by: Don Avery, Assistant Director of Capital Planning, University of Maine System Office | Lura Wade, Principal, SMRT Architecture Engineering Planning

The shift to beneficial electrification is an integrated planning challenge that connects facilities, finance, and strategy. This session provides a clear, five-step electrification roadmap for campus-wide implementation. We will share how a future-focused vision, starting with a full utility infrastructure review to ensure capacity for 5-, 10-, and 20-year electric loads, drives financial resilience. Using a University of Maine case study, you will learn how to phase electrification to align with capital cycles, avoid the project-level trap (thus preventing stranded infrastructure), and secure leadership buy-in with a total cost of ownership analysis that includes avoided fossil fuel purchases and regulatory alignment.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Develop a phased electrification roadmap that strategically aligns with future electrical capacity needs and capital cycles to minimize long-term cost.
2. Apply a comprehensive total cost of ownership analysis to capital requests, integrating factors like energy price stability and student recruitment value to secure leadership investment.
3. Identify and advocate for the correct utility infrastructure standards, preventing short-term cost savings from creating costly stranded infrastructure.
4. Describe three key electrification technologies (heat pumps, variable refrigerant flow heating and cooling systems, and digital controls) and their operational co-benefits, such as improved indoor air quality and simplified maintenance.

Capital Project Budgeting Through Data-Driven Insights and Cost Modeling

Presented by: Dan Doherty, Senior Director of Estimating, Shawmut Design and Construction | Lichen Grewer, Director of Campus Planning, Brown University | Scott Kopraski, Preconstruction Executive, Shawmut Design and Construction | Ron Simoneau, Executive Vice President – National Education Market Leader, Shawmut Design and Construction

With growing project sizes and increasing complexity, setting realistic capital project budgets can be a challenge. Accurate budgeting through historical cost modeling is fundamental to delivering value-driven capital projects during complex times. Cost modeling empowers teams to set budgets that reflect true project needs and drive value. Drawing from across decades of complete, complex projects, we will present proven methods for setting realistic project budgets using cost models driven by historic data and benchmarking methodology (using Join and other technologies).

Learning Outcomes:

1. Implement new and proven methods for making effective and efficient decisions during planning, design, and construction.
2. Visualize your projects’ work through the Join technology platform’s examples and case studies provided throughout all project phases.
3. Question your project teams’ approaches for various cost modeling methodologies with confidence.
4. Identify and advocate for opportunities to effectively apply data for capital project decision-making across a broad spectrum of critical scenarios.

Ensuring Equity Amid Economic Uncertainty: Creating an Accessible Housing Plan

Presented by: J George, Associate, KMA, LLC | Alvin Hung, Assistant Director of Planning and Design, Wellesley College | Josh Safdie, Principal, KMA, LLC

Aging student housing presents barriers to students with disabilities on campuses throughout the Northeast. Yet accessibility is not only a non-negotiable obligation on local and federal levels, it’s a key component of an inclusive, equitable campus. Drawing on examples from Wellesley College’s 2019 10-year plan, this session will review the key frameworks, processes, and stakeholder input required to produce an equitable, cost-effective campus-wide accessible housing plan. With this knowledge, you will return to campus with practical, actionable strategies for addressing accessibility in existing student housing.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Apply relevant accessibility codes and requirements from the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the International Existing Building Code (IEBC) when primary function areas within housing facilities are altered during renovations.
2. Convene a working group with key stakeholders to put together an accessible housing plan for your institution, creating a collaborative link between multiple departments to improve the overall student housing experience.
3. Plan for required accessibility improvements in student housing in a way that prioritizes equity without sacrificing fiscal responsibility.
4. Approach accessibility as a factor in campus planning to be taken proactively rather than reactively.

The Campus Next Door: Clinton Community College’s Relocation to SUNY Plattsburgh

Presented by: Michelle Grant, Capital Program Manager, State University Construction Fund | Ken Knelly, Acting President, Clinton Community College | Persis Rickes, President and Principal, Rickes Associates, Inc

As colleges face budget constraints and aging infrastructure, strategic co-location offers a sustainable path forward. This session describes how the relocation of Clinton Community College onto the State University of New York at Plattsburgh (SUNY Plattsburgh) campus was structured in order to maximize resources while preserving institutional identity and academic integrity. Through a collaborative and data-driven space planning study, guiding principles were formulated, space needs were quantified, and a time-sensitive implementation plan created. You will gain practical strategies for balancing competing priorities, addressing resistance to change, resolving stakeholder disagreements, and building consensus through transparent communication and collaborative problem solving.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Preserve institutional autonomy within a shared campus environment with strategies for maintaining distinct governance, academic identity, and operations while co-locating with another institution.
2. Apply proven space planning methodologies to assess instructional and administrative space needs.
3. Manage multi-phase renovation projects with minimal disruptions.
4. Implement a shared service model that respects independent operations.

Planning with Purpose: Building Trust and Resiliency in Higher Education

Presented by: David Barkin, Chief Architect, Connecticut State Administrative Services | Julia Jack, City Architect, Hartford Director of Capital Projects and Operations | Courtney Hendricson, Director, Corporate & Foundation Relations, Southern Connecticut State University | Larry Schall, President, New England Commission of Higher Education

Moderated by: Janette Blackburn, FAIA, SCUP North Atlantic Regional Council

As higher education faces mounting challenges during increasingly uncertain times, integrated planning is essential. This panel brings together experts from academic, financial, and physical planning realms to engage with our SCUP audience. Together with the panelists, we will explore how communities and institutions are reaching across traditional boundaries to chart a path for institutional resiliency, community revitalization, and student success.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Identify strategies for aligning academic, financial, and physical planning to support institutional resilience.
2. Leverage innovative partnerships to achieve shared successful outcomes.
3. Apply data-informed planning to shape strategic, spatial, and operational initiatives.
4. Employ organizational models for effective, integrated planning that builds trust across boundaries.

Curriculum, Campus, Community: Enhancing Institutional Identity and Resilience

Presented by: Todd Andrews, Principal, Centerbrook Architects and Planners | Joanne Kossuth, Chief Operating Officer, Lesley University | Sue Wyeth, Senior Director, Centerbrook Architects and Planners

Lesley University was an institution in transition, seeking to boost enrollment, realign academic programs, enhance its identity, and divest properties to allow it to focus resources on providing compelling student amenities. This session explores the process Lesley used to reduce its campus footprint, with particular focus on the strategies and methodologies that coalesced internal and external stakeholders around transformational change. We’ll describe the outcomes that boosted revenue, restored and revitalized historic buildings, enhanced operational and programmatic efficiencies, and created shared public spaces that enhanced neighborhood connections while offering students compelling new places to live, learn, and play.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Facilitate multi-stakeholder planning discussions that promote transparency and build trust.
2. Develop strategic questions and tools to evaluate institutional identity, differentiators, and strengths during periods of change.
3. Conduct asset-based reviews of curriculum and campus infrastructure to align programming and facilities with future needs.
4. Design resource reallocation strategies that convert underutilized or non-core assets (e.g., property) into funding for mission-aligned projects.

Facilities Renewal, Decarbonization, and Resilience Via Integrated Planning

Presented by: Minakshi Amundsen, Associate Vice President for Campus Planning and Operations, Williams College | Jason Forney, Principal, Bruner/Cott & Associates, Inc. | Tanja Srebotnjak, Executive Director, Zilkha Center for the Environment, Williams College | Jennifer Williams, Managing Principal, Perkins&Will

As they work to implement campus plans, institutions must balance priorities and optimize within constraints. We’ll share how Williams College integrated concurrent planning processes for campus decarbonization, housing, athletics and well-being, and dining renewal, coordinating the work to to respond to specific challenges (the need for facilities renewal, maintaining fiscal discipline, reducing carbon emissions, and working with a fixed electrical grid capacity) and opportunities (improving the student experience, implementing deep energy retrofits, and improving universal accessibility). You will learn how we used integrated planning practices to balance competing objectives, manage constraints, identify synergies, and shape the next ten years of the college’s capital plan.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Identify strategies for coordinating cross-functional planning teams to address complex campus challenges in an integrated manner.
2. Analyze methods for pursuing ambitious carbon reduction and campus renewal goals while balancing fiscal responsibility and infrastructure limitations.
3. Evaluate approaches to integrating sustainability, accessibility, and student experience into long-term campus planning, capital, and operating investment decisions.
4. Review an approach to carbon reduction that considers the campus as a single interconnected energy system where load reductions in one area could offset increases in others.

Gund Hall: Deferred Maintenance to Transformational Design

Presented by: Kristi Dowd, Principal, Redgate | George Gard, Associate, Bruner/Cott & Associates, Inc. | Hue Nguyen, Associate Director of Facilities Management, Harvard University

Deferred maintenance projects are necessary but rarely inspire enthusiastic use of resources. What if they could drive mission and institutional pride? This session explores practical strategies for reframing critical maintenance as mission-aligned initiatives. At Harvard University, Gund Hall’s aging envelope became the catalyst for transformation. Using an integrated planning approach to connect strategy, facilities, and resources, the team aligned scope, budget, and campus priorities while building trust across committees, planning offices, sustainability teams, and historic commissions. The project balances historic preservation, technical performance, low-carbon design, accessibility, and budget, achieving immediate upgrades while establishing foundations for future changes.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Reposition deferred maintenance projects in capital planning discussions as strategic investments that advance institutional mission and campus priorities.
2. Assess core building systems (e.g., building envelope) for their potential to simultaneously deliver outcomes like cost savings, improved occupant comfort, carbon reduction, and campus-wide positive impact.
3. Design stakeholder engagement processes that transparently connect technical building decisions to diverse stakeholder priorities and build cross-functional support.
4. Quantify and communicate how operational savings from energy efficiency and avoided repairs can be redirected to fund future mission-aligned capital projects.

Building Bridges: Transforming Spaces for the Academic Library’s New Mission

Presented by: Jason Battles, Dean of Libraries, University of Arkansas at Little Rock | Sarita Sen, Architect, University of Delaware | Joseph Shelley, Vice President for Innovation and Information Services, Hamilton College | Frano Violich, Principal, Kennedy & Violich Architecture, Ltd

There has been a radical shift in the role libraries play on campus, from storehouses of knowledge to a marketplace for the free exchange of ideas. This session shares how an integrated planning approach helped three institutions transform their library spaces. We will explore the radically different approaches taken by each institution to recontextualize the library as a marketplace for the exchange of ideas, a public resource for new tools and technologies, and a bridge to create the potential for new and unlikely interdisciplinary alliances.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Explore strategies and physical spaces that libraries can use to encourage interdepartmental connection.
2. Promote an ‘all-in’ lens in the planning and decision-making process so that outcomes reflect the institution’s mission and the voices of diverse stakeholders while remaining strategic and actionable.
3. Encourage faculty and technology administrators to adopt flexible, adaptable, and practicable ways to integrate new technologies and tools into the curriculum and shared public spaces.
4. Discuss the substantial re-investment potential of mid-century buildings despite perceived limitations and drawbacks, such as limited floor-to-floor heights, lack of daylight, and outdated systems.

From Postwar Legacy to Low-Carbon Future: Data-informed Renewal at Bowdoin

Presented by: Sharon Ames, Capital Projects Manager | Architect, Bowdoin College | Jason Der Ananian, Senior Project Manager, Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc. | michelle miller, Project Manager, HGA

Existing aging buildings often present significant challenges when updating to align with current campus goals. This session highlights how careful planning, close collaboration across disciplines, and data-informed decision-making can lead to measurable, real-world results. Using Bowdoin College’s Sills Hall as a case study, we’ll provide actionable insight into how analytical tools and human-centered design goals can work together to create spaces that are accessible, daylit, healthy, and imbued with ‘intellectual gravitas.’ You will learn about tools, benchmarks, and insights that can empower you to make evidence-based decisions for highly sustainable renovation and adaptive reuse projects.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Integrate best practices into campus sustainability guidelines, with a focus on approaches to existing buildings.
2. Develop strategies for improving whole building airtightness through implementation of enclosure renovations.
3. Address critical questions at very beginning of a renovation project to ensure the right tools and analyses will be done early in the project process when big picture decisions can best be informed by the data.
4. Refine interior material guidelines to meet wellness and sustainability goals, regardless of specific project certifications pursued.

Using Small Steps to Implement a Campus Master Plan

Presented by: Gregory Berndt, Associate Principal, Ellenzweig | Michael Lauber, Principal, Ellenzweig | Tina Perez, Senior Campus Planner, University of Massachusetts Boston | Dennis Swinford, Director of Campus Planning and Sustainability, University of Massachusetts Boston

The session describes how large-scale master planning goals can be achieved through a coordinated plan of incremental projects. As the University of Massachusetts Boston (UMass Boston) commenced detailed capital initiatives to support the goals of their campus master plan and their energy and carbon master plan, campus planners developed strategies that worked with available resources, coordinated the required phasing of project build-outs, and acknowledged the particular challenges of renovating buildings of the 1970s. Learn how UMass Boston is orchestrating numerous capital initiatives and coordinating a phasing plan across time and space in order to implement its master plan.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Develop an incremental approach to implementing large-scale campus planning goals.
2. Create a capital projects plan that works within available resources and acknowledges the required sequence of project build-outs.
3. Develop strategies to analyze and address the particular challenges of renovating mid-century modern buildings.
4. Maintain a nimble approach to project implementation, adjusting scope to incorporate user input and acknowledge actual conditions on the ground.