Business
& Labor
Ivy League Expansions Jump Natural Boundaries
(archrecord.construction.com - 11/14/2006)
By John
Gendall
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| Image courtesy Cooper,
Robertson & Partners |
With both their coffers and their campuses
bursting at the seams, Ivy League Universities are beginning
to initiate large-scale expansion campaigns to attract the
best talent. These schools are graduating from the quadrangle
to become multi-billion-dollar, master-planned developments
that stretch dozens of acres into surrounding neighborhoods.
In one such endeavor, the board of trustees
at the University of Pennsylvania adopted a plan in June for
a $2 billion redevelopment and expansion to take place over
several decades. Authored by Sasaki Associates, the plan takes
advantage of the anticipated acquisition of a 24-acre land
parcel currently owned by the United States Post Office.
The decision dates to the 2004 inauguration
of UPenn president Amy Gutmann, who promised to connect the
campus with the city. The Schuylkill River physically divides
the Eastern edge of the campus from the rest of Philadelphia,
while a university-owned industrial zone, transportation corridor,
and sports fields, wedged between the campus and the river,
enhance the sense of isolation.
The Sasaki plan aims to integrate the
campus, the newly acquired property, and the industrial wedge
into one, and to unite this new whole with the city. Dennis
Pieprz, Sasaki president and principal-in-charge, explains
that the design “reinforces the university’s relationship
to the city,” adding, “The design intends to make
the expansion of the campus seamless with the city.”
This will largely be accomplished with a series of mixed-use
facilities, cultural venues, public space, and an emphasis
on the bridges that connect the two sides of the river.
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The UPenn plan bears a striking resemblance
to a plan already underway at its Cambridge counterpart. Harvard
is preparing to submit a 50-year development plan that encompasses
200 acres in Allston, Massachusetts, which faces the school
from across the Charles River. Harvard has had longstanding
facilities in Allston, including the Business School and Soldier’s
Field, as well as acreage it has amassed since 1997. The current
master plan will weave these parts together and add an ambitious
science and cultural program, open space, and commercial opportunities
within the larger parcel. The scheme also entails relocating
Harvard’s other professional schools and some undergraduate
housing across the river.
Led by Cooper, Robertson, and Partners
in collaboration with Gehry Partners and Olin Partnership,
the master-plan design team aims not only to merge the campus
on both sides of the river, but also to encourage interaction
between different schools and departments. Sustainable design
is a priority throughout. As part of the Harvard Green Campus
Initiative, all new buildings will comply with a yet-to-be-determined
LEED standard.
In September, Behnisch Architekten submitted
conceptual designs for the 500,000-square-foot science center.
This group of four sustainable buildings will house a number
of different science departments, but will focus on accommodating
dialogue between those groups. Daly Genik was selected to
design a visual arts center in May 2006.
Chris Gordon, Harvard’s COO for
the Allston Development Group says that the campus plan is
“an interdisciplinary plan where academics can really
flourish.” The budget is not yet final, but Gordon expects
the plan’s submission to Allston by the end of 2006.
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