Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Better Stormwater Management Made Easy

  • 05/01/18
Unilock Pavers

Building upon the university’s commitment to sustainability, the plaza features a storm water management system, which includes permeable pavers, native plantings, and a living-learning laboratory for students and visitors.

The Loyola University (Loyola) in Chicago, IL, has been advancing sustainability practices across the university for decades and has many accomplishments, including 10 LEED certified buildings. Their commitment to sustainability is reflected in their campus, curriculum, and culture.

As part of this initiative they have been recognized as a leader in water conservation, diverting 18 million gallons of rainwater from the Chicago sewers. Permeable pavers are an integral component throughout the campus.

When Loyola expanded its Lake Shore campus to the south, planners decided to buy an entire avenue from the city, close it to vehicle traffic, and replace the street with a wide concrete paver shared-use plaza.

This is one of the first pedestrian-only streets on the city’s far north side. The designers wanted to allow pedestrians and bicyclists safe passage between the southern areas of the school.

Building upon the university’s commitment to sustainability, the plaza features a stormwater management system, which includes permeable pavers, native plantings, and a living-learning laboratory for students and visitors. Stormwater management is a particularly important component of the campus design due to its proximity to Lake Michigan.

Unilock permeable path systems are found throughout the campus, along the St. Ignatius Plaza, the West Quad, East Quad, and CTA Station. This eliminated the need for underground storage tanks, as rainwater naturally filters back into the ground. This change from impervious asphalt to permeable paving is a more sustainable best practice for the campus. “In the past, runoff pouring from Loyola’s impervious streets and parking lots created flooding problems and sent more than six million gallons of water annually into Chicago’s storm sewer system and Lake Michigan,” wrote planner Doug Kozma, RLA, principal at Smith-GroupJJR’s Campus Planning practice.

The permeable pavers, he wrote, are part of “a remarkable stormwater management system” that is a “testament to the university’s environmental ethics.”

www.unilock.com

This article originally appeared in the College Planning & Management May 2018 issue of Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • Porter Family Center

    Porter Family Center for Innovation and Academics

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. The Porter Family Center for Innovation and Academics has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Project of Distinction award in the category of New Construction.

  • abstract illustration of school gym

    How the Gymnasium Can Serve as a Model for Learning Space Design

    Multipurpose gyms work because flexibility was built into the brief from the start, not retrofitted later. The same logic applies to academic spaces.

  • 144-Year-Old High-School Campus Debuts New Academic Facility

    San Diego High School (SDHS) in San Diego, Calif., recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new student services and classroom building; the project is part of a larger SDHS Whole Site Modernization project that began in 2022.

  • University of Pittsburgh to Build New Residence Hall

    The Board of Trustees from the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Penn., recently approved the construction of a new residence hall for first-year students, according to university news.