COLLEGE PARK, Md.—Architecture and design firm Cooper Robertson has revealed plans for a new campus expansion at the University of Maryland. The new facilities plan results from an 18-month community engagement process with students, staff and community stakeholders to help move the college campus into its next viable phase, which includes green spaces and more pedestrian thoroughfares.

Looking ahead at the next generation, Cooper Robertson’s planning includes identifying development capacity and upgrading those facilities that already exist on the campus. The college aims for net-zero carbon emissions by 2025, and improving multimodal transportation options given there will be five additional metro rail stations soon to debut near the campus itself.

“This plan builds on the University of Maryland’s role as an ambitious, forward-looking, and value-driven academic institution,” Cooper Robertson partner Mike Aziz said of the master plan for UMD. Aziz, himself a UMD alum, said that his alma mater is “setting a highly sustainable and lasting directive for the ultimate success of today’s and tomorrow’s students.”

Via the collaborations between the university and the various stakeholders, the school has come up with a wish list of projects to be tackled. This includes improving space and building performance for existing buildings as well as constructing new research facilities. The master plan also calls for a campus-wide “Innovation Walk” with open spaces and various renovated buildings, as well as biking and walking paths that connect areas both on and off the main campus. Furthermore, campus streets will be redesigned so that motor vehicles as well as scooters and bicycles connect key points on the campus while prioritizing pedestrian accessibility.

“Our Campus Facilities Plan is more than just a blueprint for development; it’s a commitment to our university’s holistic growth,” UMD President Darryll J. Pines said in an earlier statement. “This vision, fueled by input from our diverse community, signifies our dedication to creating environments where every student can thrive, learn and lead.”

In a subsequent statement emailed to School Construction News, Aziz of Cooper Robertson said that decarbonization is one of the key tenets of his firm’s plans for UMD as the school aims to move away from fossil fuels.

“Our strategy for achieving this centers on a phased shift from a centralized steam plant towards district-scale electrification,” Aziz said. “The idea is to combine satellite utility buildings with a large-scale geothermal system, alongside deep energy retrofits on existing buildings and a focus on very high levels of energy efficiency for new buildings. There are a lot of moving pieces in this strategy, but we think the environmental — and operational — benefits are well worth the effort.”

No general contractor has yet been announced for this master plan.

Cooper Robertson’s recent educational work includes expansions at George Washington and Georgia State, as well as other renovations at Caltech, Yale, Georgetown, Duke Medical School, Ohio State and the University of Delaware.

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COLLEGE PARK, Md.—Architecture firm Cooper Robertson was selected by the University of Maryland as the lead developer for the school’s facilities master plan.

The three-phased project aims to realize a comprehensive framework for Maryland as the university continues to develop in the 21st century, mostly notably at its main campus in College Park, located on the outskirts of Washington, D.C. As part of its work, Cooper Robertson will be tasked with identifying areas in and around College Park where the university can reasonably afford to expand its existing campus. Such work will also entail examining transportability options in the increasingly busy capital region—which has been beset by lengthy delays over the long-gestating Purple Line of the area’s Metro rail. Cooper Robertson will also look at ways to increase the school’s renewable and sustainable energy options.

“The development of this facilities master plan builds on the University of Maryland’s role as an ambitious, forward-looking, and value-driven academic institution,” Cooper Robertson partner Mike Aziz, a leader of the master planning effort and a University of Maryland alum, said recently of his company’s significant work for his alma mater.

In addition to its work at Maryland, Cooper Robertson has undertaken data-driven planning for such other universities as Georgia State, George Washington University, the University of Delaware, North Carolina State, Ohio State, the University of North Carolina, Cal Tech, Yale, Harvard, Georgetown and the Duke University Medical School.

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FARMVILLE, Va.—Virginia’s rapidly growing Longwood University has just unveiled a major revamp of an iconic residence hall, representing the first step in implementing a new master-planning effort led by the architects and campus planners at Cooper Robertson.

The newly re-opened dormitory building, Frazer Hall, is one of a pair of formerly drab midcentury structures right at the front door of Longwood’s campus, where it meets the main street of surrounding Farmville. The second building, Curry Hall, is now starting the carefully phased renovation process, which also includes landscaping and redesigned streetscapes that better tie the University to the community around it. New facades feature wider windows and more contextual brickwork. Interiors are redesigned to allow for additional space and a greater number of students — an important consideration for a school whose population is anticipated to grow 30% in the next five years.

“Updating Curry Hall and Frazer Hall is a key step in the implementation of the master plan, and one the University identified as an early priority while we worked together to develop a long-range vision,” said Cooper Robertson partner John Kirk, AIA. “The primary goal is to better weave the existing campus together and connect it to the surrounding Farmville community. These two buildings are visible from everywhere in town, and the renovation offers an opportunity create a more welcoming and contextual presence at the University’s front door by forming handsome icons on the local skyline.”

Cooper Robertson is also shepherding the design team for the building projects, which includes the firms VMDO, Little Diversified and Franck & Lohsen.

The residential building upgrades are just the beginning of a series of bold moves proposed in Cooper Robertson’s master plan, called “Place Matters.” Adding new campus activities and furthering the campus-town connection, the school’s baseball and softball stadiums will be relocated to downtown Farmville, with all field sports to be consolidated at the south campus. Building on the university’s existing character, a new, garden-like pedestrian connection to the Moton Museum will be installed along with a Performing Arts Center and a multi-purpose hall.

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ATLANTA — Architecture and urban design firm Cooper Robertson has announced its selection to develop the next phase of a master plan for Georgia State University (GSU), as the leading academic institution prepares for growth and major new initiatives. 

The master plan work entails the reshaping and enhancement of the main downtown Atlanta campus as well as five satellite campuses throughout the state.

This next phase is a part of a medium- and long-term strategic plan in progress at the 52,000-student public university, which anticipates expanding to 60,000 students within the next decade. 

The main components of Cooper Robertson’s work include planning for more students living on campus in Atlanta as well as creating a unified identity for the entire Georgia State University (GSU) system, which has grown over the past several decades to include facilities across Georgia in Newton, Alpharetta, Dunwoody, Clarkston and Decatur.

Mike Aziz, AIA, Cooper Robertson’s stated that directly integrating these ‘Perimeter Colleges’ into the GSU umbrella is crucial to the university leadership’s strategic vision.

John Kirk, AIA, partner at Cooper Robertson, explained that the new planning effort aims to make GSU into a whole that’s greater than the sum of its parts.

“Our challenge and our goal for the master plan update is to create connective tissues that better tie the central GSU location to its surroundings, addressing the push-pull relationships inherent in any urban institution, as we work to weave the main campus and the university’s formerly disparate parts into a more cohesive and legible fabric,” said Kirk.  

The GSU master plan update report and its specific recommendations is anticipated to be released later this spring.

Cooper Robertson has earned wide renowned for its campus projects and is currently implementing master plans at Longwood University in Farmville, Va., and Drury University in Springfield, Mo.

The firm has also developed long-term plans and designed buildings for the University of Delaware, North Carolina State, Ohio State, the University of North Carolina, Cal Tech, Yale University, Hunter College, Georgetown, the Duke University Medical School, among others.

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