Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Drury University

Outdoor Classrooms

  • 11/01/13
Drury

PHOTOS COURTESY OF DRURY UNIVERSITY

Drury University in Springfield, MO, has appeared on The Princeton Review’s Green College Guide four years in a row, and the university prioritizes outdoor learning spaces. In 2011, two campus buildings — Belle Hall and Turner Hall — were dismantled and Drury’s sustainability council collaborated with Drury students, staff, faculty and alumni to decide what to do with the space. The result was the Kellogg Green Space, a multi-use area for recreation, gardens, outdoor classrooms and more.

When then-president Todd Parnell’s father passed away, well-wishers gave donations to the green space in lieu of flowers, and this helped fund the outdoor classroom that now exists in the space. The design for the classroom utilized recycled parapet stones from Belle Hall and limestone cores from the newly constructed O’Reilly Family Event Center.

“The parapet stones link us to our Drury past on that site, and the chunks of limestone connect us to the substrate of our Ozarks hills and Karst geology — two things the Parnell family loves: Drury and the Ozarks,” says Director of Campus Sustainability Dr. Wendy Anderson.

Perhaps the most visible outdoor classroom on campus is located centrally in Burnham Circle. Classes often meet here in the spring, summer and fall. Drury architecture alumnus Jody Sarkodee-Adoo ’04 designed the classroom.

A smaller study space tucked between two buildings on the west side of campus, the Philosopher’s Table provides a quieter place for contemplation and reflection. Legend has it that if a student studies for an exam here, that student is sure to pass.

This article originally appeared in the College Planning & Management November 2013 issue of Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • Architectural Power for the Modern Campus Landscape

    For generations, an outdoor classroom only required a textbook and a patch of grass. Today, not only has the laptop replaced the printed pages, the rise of agile learning has turned campuses into study halls with students listening to lectures and researching topics from quads, gardens, and plazas. The challenge for architects and facility managers is to provide connectivity without cluttering the landscape with visual eyesores or creating safety hazards with extension cords.

  • Rhode Island Boarding School Completes Student Dorm Renovations

    St. George’s School in Middletown, R.I., recently announced the completion of a $26-million renovation project on Arden-Diman-Eccles Dormitory, according to a news release. The school partnered with Voith & Mactavish Architects (VMA) on the new space, which places a new focus on collaborative community spaces open to both boarding students and day students.

  • Construction Begins on New University Research Vessel

    Boat-building company All American Marine recently announced that it has begun construction on a new catamaran research vessel for the University of Texas Marine Science Institute (UTMSI) in Port Aransas, Texas, according to a news release.

  • Northeastern University Breaks Ground on New Housing Community

    Northeastern University recently announced the groundbreaking of a new student housing community on its campus in Boston, Mass., according to a news release. The university is partnering with American Campus Communities (ACC) for development of the project, which will have the capacity for 1,200 students and has a scheduled completion date of fall 2028.