facilities
Spotlight On Mission-Driven Design for Universities
An institution’s stated mission has a unique power to influence the reshaping of the campus. It can also energize student success, especially when the mission forms a central pillar of campus architecture and planning focused on enriching university life and academic experience. Rachel D. Woodhouse, NCIDQ, principal and director of operations for architecture and interior design firm Dyer Brown and the leader of its higher-education practice, recently spoke with Spaces4Learning to offer insight on the planning, design and construction of “mission-driven spaces,” and how they can communicate and support core institutional goals.
Q. What is a mission-driven design approach?
A. Traditional approaches to designing built space tend to be user- or program-driven, supporting people and their activities and tasks. Mission-driven design prioritizes institutional aims to inform design decisions at every scale. In general, it’s about designing places that reflect the unique identity of an institution and facilitate its top-level goals.
Whether the project involves master planning, architecture, interior design or a combination of these, the mission-oriented approach starts with an exploration of the institution’s mission. The design team should approach this visioning process without preconceived ideas, instead seeking and creating opportunities to interact with the students and other stakeholder groups, including faculty, staff and alumni. In these collaborative settings, the institutional mission serves as a kind of filter for discussions — topics may vary based on an individual stakeholder’s point-of-view, but it all leads back to the fundamental mission. In this way, possible design solutions that support the mission bubble up and percolate organically.
Depending on the specific mission, perhaps a master plan emerges that collocates departments to foster specific relationships or create programmatic hybrids. Or, the institution might embrace an architectural approach that prioritizes accessibility and universal design, or an interior design scheme for multiple campus buildings that establishes a visual connection to reinforce a sense of community and shared purpose.
As a large-scale example, Dyer Brown recently led the design and workplace strategy for a leading university’s multi-building renovation and consolidation campaign. Hundreds of employees in eight departments under Boston University’s Office of Information Services and Technology (IS&T) were spread across a dozen facilities on the urban campus. We worked closely with leadership to understand the mission components, then conducted space analysis and relocation studies as we have done previously with both academic and workplace client groups.
Focused on the mission of supporting student and departmental success, the outcomes included a plan to redesign target facilities and realign departments, significantly improving efficiencies and increasing usage of the approximately 50,000 square feet of offices, open work areas, collaboration zones and support spaces. Ultimately the project reduced IS&T’s footprint from 12 buildings to six, reorganizing and renovating their offices with new, modern furnishings, finishes and amenities. The resulting workplaces have helped increase on-the-job satisfaction and work turnaround, indicating expected improvements in staff recruitment and retention as well as overall work success.
Q. Why would you recommend this design approach for institutions of higher learning, specifically?
A.Mission-driven design offers the advantage of unifying facilities, creating a sense of shared intent among separate, sometimes competing parties to reinforce the institutional culture. Taking into account the needs and activities of the many stakeholder groups, designing college and university facilities is a uniquely complex challenge.
At the same time, it presents an opportunity to foster and reinforce a sense of community and common purpose across departments and campus facilities. For a workplace renovation across three buildings of the Campus Services department at Atlanta’s Emory University, for example, as well as for multiple smaller-scale renovations and realignments for Northeastern University in Boston — including its media services department and student orientation office — boost performance in a range of ways.
Our direct experience with client groups in the higher education space suggest that drawing on the institutional mission to inform physical interventions to the built space instills a sense of continuity and interconnection. Imagine how this helps varied departments, schools and administrative functions at any university.
Q. How does a strong expression of university mission help to facilitate student success?
A. The primary goal of a given university is to support student development, which means that designing to the mission is by definition supportive of academic pursuit and success. Dyer Brown’s goal is to help our academic clients meet the growing demand for programmatically flexible, socially equitable and physically healthy campus environments by building and renovating cutting-edge facilities that foster a sense of support and belonging. Plus, with educational mission as the guide for design, new technologies can be integrated into classrooms, lecture halls and student centers in ways that enhance academic pursuits.
Facilities that are planned, built and furnished to support the institutional mission will always support student and faculty success, either directly or indirectly, and they can also impact other goals, such as boosting boundary-busting science at a research-driven university. The fact is, a redesigned department office may not directly impact a student’s daily academic routine, but in the long run it will help attract and retain the talented faculty and researchers whose work aligns with the university mission. The improved efficiencies and inspiring environment will also support those educators as they become more responsive to the needs of students and other stakeholders.