Marist College Selects DLR Group to Design New Campus Master Plan

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.”

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Surging Demand for Student Housing Fuels Major Campus Investment Opportunities

    University leaders throughout the U.S. are accelerating plans to modernize and expand student housing as enrollment stabilizes and demand for on-campus living rebounds. Recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics indicates that total postsecondary enrollment is projected to grow through the end of the decade, with undergraduate enrollment alone expected to increase by more than 8 percent by 2030.

  • GeoCam and UCLA: Modernizing Campus Accessibility Mapping

    In early 2025, UCLA partnered with GeoCam to capture and modernize its pedestrian infrastructure data. The goal was ambitious but clear: to produce a high-accuracy, imagery-backed digital map of every sidewalk, pathway, ramp, and ADA-related feature on UCLA’s 419-acre campus.

  • California Middle School Breaks Ground on Major Renovation Project

    The Hillsborough City School District (HCSD) in Hillsborough, Calif., recently began construction on new multipurpose and administration facilities for Crocker Middle School, according to a news release.

  • UT-San Antonio Begins Residence Hall Renovations

    The University of Texas at San Antonio recently began a $6-million renovation project to one of its residence halls, according to a news release. Originally completed in 1986, Chisolm Hall measures in at 120,860 square feet and is the oldest and largest residence hall on campus.