Campus development plans aim to create vibrant, accessible, and inspiring educational environments while respecting campus history and heritage. Several trends can be observed:
Adaptive Reuse. New construction on campuses is cooling off. Instead, there is a growing trend to reuse historic buildings and adapt them for new purposes, allowing the preservation of architectural features while breathing new life into historic campuses.
Sustainability. Campus restoration projects emphasize sustainable design, not only reducing the environmental impact but also ensuring long-term cost savings. This includes incorporating energy-efficient systems, renewable materials, green roofs, solar panels, and water conservation strategies into historic infrastructure.
Accessibility & Universal Design. Improving accessibility and creating inclusive spaces for individuals with disabilities involves retrofitting buildings with ramps, elevators, accessible restrooms, and other features to ensure access and usability for diverse audiences.
Collaboration & Community Engagement. Restoration projects increasingly embrace collaborative approaches that involve the participation of stakeholders, including the local community, historic preservation consultants, and architects. This approach ensures that projects align with the needs and aspirations of the people who will use and appreciate the campus.
Landscapes & Outdoor Spaces. Historic campuses are often characterized by their beautiful landscapes, outdoor spaces, and public art. Restoration efforts focus not only on preserving buildings but also on rehabilitating and maintaining the surrounding green areas, gardens, courtyards, and campus art, encouraging social interaction and recreation.
Visitor Information. Restoration projects increasingly incorporate interpretation and educational components to provide visitors with a deeper understanding of the campus history and significance. This may involve the creation of visitor centers, museums, interactive exhibits, guided tours, and digital resources.
These trends reflect a shift towards holistic and sustainable approaches to historic campus restoration, where preservation and functionality can coexist.
EverGreene offers a broad range of specialty services that help universities incorporate historic preservation, sustainability, accessibility, and adaptive reuse into their campus designs. We work directly with institutional clients and partner with their architects, general contractors and facility management teams to bring campus plans to life.
