Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Washington University in St. Louis: Ann and Andrew Tisch Park

  • 01/01/20

An expansive new park on the Danforth Campus of Washington University in St. Louis is a signature component of a $360-million, 18-acre project that also includes five new buildings, an expanded campus art museum and an underground parking garage.

Washington University in St. Louis

© James Ewing

Ann and Andrew Tisch Park serves as a welcoming entrance to campus and is a gathering place for the university community and visitors alike.

Michael Vergason Landscape Architects led the development of a framework plan that patterns every aspect of the grounds into a cohesive, timeless setting. The new landscape creates opportunities for greater interdisciplinary interaction, transforms the entrance to the grounds and links the campus with the adjacent urban park. The outdoor public spaces reflect the university’s core academic mission of groundbreaking discovery, research and teaching.

Washington University in St. Louis

© James Ewing

The reimagined landscape builds on the original 1895 campus plan by landscape architect Olmsted, Olmsted & Eliot, while positioning the campus for the future. Nearly six acres of surface parking lots have been converted to green space, furthering the university’s commitment to sustainability. Walking paths connect academic buildings in different schools, facilitating interdisciplinary collaboration.

Thousands of plantings arranged in mixed-species stands promote biodiversity, support pollination and reflect the natural ecosystem. Strategically located rain gardens aid bio-retention and help sustainably manage stormwater. By summer 2020, plantings will include nearly 400 trees representing 38 species. Half of these are Missouri natives, such as American Beech, Black Walnut and Yellow Wood; the rest are native cultivars or regionally adaptive.

Washington University in St. Louis

© James Ewing

McCarthy Building Companies served as construction manager of all project components, which collectively enhance campus green space and pedestrian access while adding more than 200,000 square feet of classrooms, offices, studios and laboratories.

Washington University in St. Louis

© James Byard

This article originally appeared in the January/February 2020 issue of Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • University of Kansas Breaks Ground on Entrepreneurship Hub

    The University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kan., recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new KU Entrepreneurship Hub, according to university news. The Hub is part of the university’s School of Business and will include spaces for experiential learning and programming.

  • Vanderbilt to Partner with ABM for Campus Preservation and Modernization

    Vanderbilt University recently announced that it has selected ABM Performance Solutions for a preservation and modernization project at its New York City campus, according to a news release. ABM will deliver its end-to-end ABM Performance Solutions (APS) model to manage critical operations during renovation and maintenance.

  • Houston-Area High School Breaks Ground on 117,000SF Multi-Use Facility

    North Shore Senior High School, part of Galena Park ISD in Houston, Texas, recently broke ground on a new multi-use facility for student extracurriculars, according to a news release. The North Shore Multi-Use Facility will include dedicated practice and training space for the school’s athletics and fine arts programs.

  • Universities Continue to Launch Multimillion-Dollar Campus Transformations

    What makes the current wave of campus development especially noteworthy is its emphasis on multi-use functionality and community integration. Institutions are no longer investing solely in academic or athletic facilities in isolation. Instead, they are creating destinations that blend recreation, health, housing, and event-driven economic activity.