Blog Post

Serving on the SCUP Awards of Excellence jury in the summer of 2025 was an unexpectedly clarifying experience for me. It brought into focus two questions I had already been wrestling with in my own campus planning practice:

1. How can campuses cultivate places that balance pedagogy, resiliency, and belonging?
2. What does it mean to plan in an era defined by changing government priorities, technological disruptions, climate change impacts, and social fragmentation?

Since that review process and thanks to the thoughtful deliberations and insights of my fellow jury members, I have repeatedly returned to those questions in my campus planning work, stakeholder consultations, and ongoing discussions with peers. My primary takeaway from the awards submission reviews reaffirmed that the future of campus planning is not in expanding a physical footprint, but in deepening relationships between land and learning, institutions and their communities, and data-driven insight and the lived experience of place.

In practice, I have come to see the integration of these elements as less about coordinating efforts and more about reciprocity. A campus evolves meaningfully when its physical framework, academic purpose, and community relationships actively reinforce and nurture one another.

The following eight themes emerged from my ongoing work with higher education institutions that are redefining their campus planning priorities. Overall, these themes reflect a shift from campus planning as coordination toward campus planning as reciprocity—between systems, people, and place.

1. Multidisciplinary Collaboration and Flexible Learning Environments

Multidisciplinary collaboration focuses on breaking down department and discipline silos. When campus planners and designers collaborate closely with the campus community and community partners, their outputs are far better positioned to support flexible, collaborative learning environments and a more efficient shared use of space. In a truly interdisciplinary plan, campus spaces move beyond being static or for a single purpose. Instead, they evolve into “living” places of learning and connection—adaptable environments that respond over time and can extend past campus boundaries, blending into surrounding neighbourhoods.

This cross-boundary integration enables campuses to function not only as cohesive internal communities but also as laboratories where new ideas in sustainability, pedagogy, and civic engagement can be tested, observed, and refined in real time.

Consider a centrally located campus commons: By day, it can accommodate outdoor teaching, research demonstrations, and informal student study; in the evenings and on weekends, the same space can transform into a venue for community markets, public lectures, and cultural events.

2. Climate-Conscious Planning

Sustainability in campus planning has evolved well beyond energy efficiency to embrace comprehensive climate leadership. Institutions are embedding climate mitigation and adaptation into strategic planning and physical design. They are setting clear targets for decarbonization and resource efficiency and recognizing that their campuses must anticipate and respond to environmental uncertainty, extreme weather, and long-term impacts of climate change.

Our campus futures are strengthened by incorporating buildings and landscape systems designed to withstand increasingly volatile conditions while remaining vibrant hubs of learning even amid environmental disruption.

For example:

• A campus that manages increased precipitation through robust stormwater systems and floodable landscapes with buildings designed so lower levels are flood-tolerant and constructed with water-resistant materials to protect critical infrastructure
• Vegetation and landscaping that are strategically designed to reduce fuel loads and limit wildfire risk to nearby buildings and communities
• Flexible building systems such as modular mechanical and electrical systems, or movable interior walls, and elevated or reinforced structural components, allowing facilities to adapt to changing academic, research, and community programs or extreme events without disrupting campus operations

3. Wellness and the Student Experience

Wellness and student success are increasingly inseparable. Many plans now treat wellness as a generative design principle rather than a standalone amenity, embedding daylight, material warmth, and sensory-rich environments into the campus fabric.

Wellness is also expressed in how spaces for contemplation, creativity, and movement are integrated with academic functions, supporting mental restoration and intellectual curiosity. The University of Virginia’s Contemplative Commons exemplifies this approach.

Its light-filled indoor spaces, interconnected outdoor areas, and art installations inspired by nature create an immersive environment for reflection, learning, and collaboration. Courtyards with walkable water features and views of natural ecosystems offer restorative spaces for students, complemented by intentional wellness programming, including contemplative mindfulness, reflection practice sessions accompanied by music, and movement activities. They foster resilience, awareness, and meaningful social connections.

. . . the future of campus planning is not in expanding a physical footprint, but in deepening relationships—between land and learning, institutions and their communities, and data-driven insight and the lived experience of place.

4. Equity, Inclusion, and Co-Creation

Co-creation has emerged as a defining practice of ethical campus planning. I highly commend projects that demonstrated inclusive processes from the outset, where equity was embedded procedurally and intentionally, not post-rationalized.

In an era marked by social fragmentation, campuses have the potential to serve as spaces for social recognition and cultural repair by foregrounding underrepresented voices, histories, and narratives.

Many institutions recognize that inclusion goes beyond representation, incorporating meaningful strategies that shape places, programs, materials, symbols, and experiences, while creating environments that convey belonging, respect, and safety across the entire campus.

5. Land Relationships, Indigenous Placemaking, and Stewardship

One of the most profound shifts I have observed in campus planning is a renewed and deepened relationship with land—not only as a physical resource, but as an ecological, cultural, and historical entity. Increasingly, planning practices emphasize celebrating site-specific character through natural systems thinking.

In my recent work at Brook McIlroy and with our Indigenous Design Studio, I have observed the value of acknowledging Indigenous placemaking and stewardship, not merely as an ethical imperative or a box to be checked but as a vital pedagogical element.

A compelling example is unfolding within the ongoing University of Waterloo’s Campus Plan, where our team envisioned Indigenous-inspired spaces that “listen to the land”: responding to natural topography, ecological systems, and historical land narrative. Doing so creates opportunities to recognize and celebrate Indigenous presence through art, programming, and interpretive features. Using this kind of approach, campus planning becomes a collaborative effort to nurture connection to the land, strengthen community, and affirm cultural identity.

6. Technology and AI Integration

Emerging technologies and artificial intelligence are fundamentally reshaping how higher education is delivered, experienced, and supported. Beyond digital infrastructure, AI is influencing pedagogy, research, operations, and campus life, from personalized and hybrid learning models to data-driven space utilization, predictive maintenance, and smarter campus services.

As AI increasingly enables personalized, hybrid, and on-demand learning, the role of human presence on campus becomes more intentional and purpose-driven. Campuses should prioritize spaces that cannot be replicated virtually. These spaces include those that foster collaboration, experimentation, social connection, mentorship, and a sense of community. This shift will inevitably drive a long-term evolution away from single-purpose classrooms toward flexible, mixed-use campus environments that support meaningful in-person interaction alongside technology-enabled learning.

7. Phased and Implementation-Ready

A strategically phased master plan provides a clear framework for aligning near-term action with long-term vision. By identifying quick wins and short-term initiatives, institutions can deliver visible improvements early, build momentum, and respond to urgent needs—while ensuring that these initial investments reinforce, rather than constrain, mid- and long-term strategic objectives.

Increasingly, institutions are organizing their capital investments around shared values rather than isolated projects. Principles such as adaptability and flexibility allow buildings, landscapes, and infrastructure to evolve in response to changing academic priorities, enrollment patterns, funding models, and technological shifts. Mixed-use developments are also being explored on campuses by layering academic, research, residential, cultural, and commercial functions, optimizing land value while creating vibrant, active environments that support industry collaboration and community life.

When these values are embedded within a phased strategy, each phase becomes self-sufficient and future-ready—capable of standing on its own while also setting the foundation for subsequent investment. A phased approach to planning reduces risk, enables incremental funding and partnerships, and ensures that near-term decisions actively contribute to a resilient, cohesive, and sustainable long-term campus or institutional vision.

A rigorous approach to implementation includes clear phasing, financial analysis, and defined pathways, which align strategic vision with operational capacity and available resources.

Implementation-focused planning also integrates monitoring and feedback mechanisms, enabling campuses to evaluate progress, recalibrate strategies, and respond to evolving academic, social, and environmental conditions.

By grounding planning in practical realities and defining clear steps for execution, campuses can transform ambitious visions into tangible outcomes that enhance operations, strengthen the student experience, and advance institutional objectives.

8. Storytelling and Communication

The most effective campus plans incorporate storytelling as a core strategy, shaping how a university’s identity, values, and aspirations are projected, experienced, and evolved.

Storytelling can be integrated into three key elements:

• The campus plan document has the potential to tell a compelling story of place, process, and relationships through highly interactive visuals and supporting narratives.
• The campus planning process, when forward-looking, transforms itself into an engaging and participatory story. It captures diverse perspectives and co-creates a shared vision for the campus’s evolving future.
• The campus physical space design can manifest storytelling through architecture, landscapes, and pedestrian-focused circulation systems, making institutional values, history, and aspirations legible to all users. Dynamic academic, cultural, and community-facing programming, interpretive features, and adaptive spaces communicate these narratives in real time, turning the campus into a living, experiential story that evolves with its society.

The Final Word

Reflecting on my experiences in campus planning throughout 2025, the discipline is evolving from a primarily technical exercise into a deeply relational practice. Campuses are emerging as models of social inclusion, climate resilience, and intellectual collaboration where physical spaces, programmatic vision, and community engagement are intertwined.

These transformations suggest that the integrated campus of the future will not be measured by the extent of its built footprint but by its openness, adaptability, and responsiveness.

Ultimately, the success of campus planning lies in its capacity to weave together people, place, and purpose, creating environments that are vibrant, resilient, and meaningful for generations to come.

Exceptional campus plans and the institutions behind them will distinguish themselves by their ability to invite participation, evolve with changing needs, and continuously align place with purpose.

Author Biography

Khatereh Baharikhoob, BArch, MUD, RPP, MCIP, OALA, CSLA, is an urban designer, landscape architect, and registered professional planner. As a principal at Brook McIlroy, she leads multidisciplinary urban design and master planning projects, including community plans, campus master plans, visioning initiatives, and public engagement processes. Baharikhoob, an IAP2-certified engagement specialist, excels at designing and delivering inclusive community engagement strategies across all aspects of her work. She combines technical expertise with innovative leadership to help shape places and communities that foster inclusion, belonging, and well-being.

To comment on this article or share your observations, email kbaharikhoob@brookmcilroy.com.