Better Stormwater Management Made Easy

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

  • Texas A&M Adds ALPR Technology to Parking Solutions

    Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, recently integrated automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) technology into its parking services and enforcement strategies, according to a news release. The university’s Transportation Services division deployed Genetec AutoVu ALPR to manage the campus’ 36,000+ parking spaces.

  • Lewis C. Cassidy Elementary School

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. Lewis C. Cassidy Elementary School has been recognized with an EDS 2025 Grand Prize award in the category of New Construction.

  • Minnesota District Partners with Kraus-Anderson on Four Construction Projects

    Stillwater Area Schools in Lake Elmo, Minn., recently announced a partnership with Kraus-Anderson for construction projects at four schools in the district, according to a news release. The projects’ funding comes from a $175-million referendum passed in November 2023.

  • ClassVR Wins Tech & Learning Best of Show at ISTELive 25

    Avantis Education recently announced that its flagship product, ClassVR, won the Tech & Learning Best of Show Award at ISTELive 25 in San Antonio, Texas, according to a news release. The program is designed to celebrate products that are “transforming education in schools around the world and that show the greatest promise for the industry,” and this is the fourth consecutive year that Avantis has claimed the award.

Digital Edition