dumontjanks

DUMONTJANKS, in collaboration with our friends at Behnisch Architecten, initially prepared a two-day design workshop for the University of Rochester. The scope included the historic Olmsted academic campus, the adjacent UR Medical Center, and the Eastman School of Music and Memorial Art Gallery in downtown Rochester. The workshop included a day walking campus with senior leaders, followed by an “’ideas” presentation the following day. Based on the workshop and a follow-up interview process, the university engaged our team for eighteen months to envision a physical framework based on the “One-University” idea described by the university’s new strategic plan.

Our work included an in-depth analysis of the university’s land and building portfolio, the historical relationship with the Genessee River and original Olmsted Plan, and the importance of the university’s downtown presence. We examined the university’s space database, explored classroom and lab utilization, analyzed campus growth and capacity, mobility and transportation issues and organization, and the local regulatory framework governing university growth. We also examined all campus holdings, both owned or leased, in order to determine a long-term integrated real estate strategy. Based on a synthesis of this analysis, we entered an in-depth scenario phase that explored the potential impacts of the desired One-University strategic mission on the physical campus.

Our work resulted in the development of several key principles to guide near- and long-term campus development. Based on the principles and expected capital availability, we produced a phased prioritization plan that included a bold civic space and mobility/parking framework to guide future campus organization, an initial focus on reinvesting in the core campus building portfolio, and the creation of a “nexus” district to connect the historic academic campus and the medical center with research, residential, and academic uses that manifest the One-University idea.