Campus Operations

Marist College Selects DLR Group to Design New Campus Master Plan

• By Matt Jones
• 04/08/24

Integrated design firm DLR Group recently announced that it will partner with Marist College to design a new campus-wide master plan for its campus in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., according to a news release. The plan will serve as a blueprint for the Marist 100 initiative, a strategic plan that aligns with the college’s centennial celebration in 2029. Marist has a 242-acre riverfront campus in the Hudson Valley and a population of about 5,500 undergraduate students.

DLR Group will engage with members of the college community at large—including faculty, staff, students, and administration—to maintain the campus’ quality and functionality while addressing a growing student population and diversity. The planning process will entail a series of open forums and sessions for the community. Ideas gathered “will further enhance Marist College’s identity, sense of place, and accessibility to the student body,” the news release reports. Marist and DLR will also explore new avenues of technology use for both academic and operational purposes.

“We are building our master campus plan at an exciting time as such strong momentum continues to propel Marist forward,” said Dr. Geoffrey Brackett, Executive Vice President of Operations and Community Relations at Marist College. “A well-designed plan with thoughtful community input will really accelerate how our campus spaces and infrastructure support the exceptional student learning and living experiences that have become the hallmark of a Marist education.”

Community engagement will involve town hall meetings, interactive workshops, online surveys, and more. This first phase of the process is expected to be complete by November 2024, according to the news release.

“As a community-oriented design firm, we take our commitment to campus engagement seriously,” said Kaveri Singh, AIA, Principal and Higher Education Leader with DLR Group. “More than anything, we’d like to have a holistic understanding of what Marist College is already doing to provide such a distinctive student experience and to create a master plan that elevates those existing practices.”