The School & Corporate Campus Issue of Landscape Architect and Specifier News saw many firms submit their projects for feature consideration. Water School at FGCU is one of several great projects we are excited to showcase on LandscapeArchitect.com.

A Shared Mission for Water Quality
In Southwest Florida, water is integral to the landscape, ecology, and daily life. The coastal region is shaped by diverse saltwater and freshwater systems including networks of wetlands, canals, and estuaries that attract visitors and residents alike. However, water quality remains a persistent challenge for the region and is central to the mission of the Water School at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) in Fort Myers.

As a flagship interdisciplinary academic and research facility, the Water School represents one of FGCU's most visible commitments to environmental leadership and water-focused research. From health and wellness to ecosystems and regional economic impacts, it's the thread that unites 13 departments and 4 colleges in Academic Building 9 (AB9). Located adjacent to thriving wetlands on the western edge of campus, the Water School's landscape design reflects the same commitment to environmental stewardship that defines its educational programming.

RVi Planning + Landscape Architecture approached the site and landscape design with that commitment in mind. Now occupying eight acres of previously underutilized space, the resilient landscape extends the campus academic spine beyond RVi's previous work on the Great Lawn at FGCU, which was the first major extension. The Great Lawn created a unifying campus hub and gathering area from similarly underutilized space, integrating a distinct design language that was referenced throughout AB 9's design.

RVi continued to build on a collaborative working relationship with university staff. Having led the landscape design for the Great Lawn project, as well as previous projects for the Main Entrance and North Lake Village, a campus housing and passive recreation district, the design principles of sustainability and integrating the built environment with natural surroundings echo throughout campus. AB 9's architectural design was led by a joint venture of RG Architects and HuntonBrady, who have again partnered with RVi for ongoing work at FGCU's Academic Building 10. For both projects, RVi is providing site planning and schematic design through budgeting, design development, construction documents, and construction administration for all hardscape, landscape, and irrigation components.

 

Resilient Design on the New Edge of Campus
While the Great Lawn established the framework for campus expansion, the Water School added eight acres along the University's western edge, reinforcing a new standard for resilient campus design and positioning FGCU for continued growth. The site of Academic Building 9, formerly an underutilized gravel lot, presented both challenges and opportunities to blend the built environment with its natural surroundings through a design that enhances both.

Locally sourced native plantings supported seamless transitions to maintain a delicate ecological balance with the adjacent wetlands. These included littoral and transitional zone plants such as leather ferns, spike rush, cordgrass, and pickerel weed. In addition to selecting the right plant palette, the design called for deliberate installation methodologies. All plantings were completed by hand to minimize environmental disturbance. This approach ensured that soil structure and hydrology at the wetlands' edge remained intact, while reducing compaction, protecting root zones, and allowing the new landscape to establish quickly and function as a resilient buffer to campus.

Reinforcing the commitment to water and environmental stewardship, RVi designed high-efficiency irrigation systems in accordance with Best Management Practices, as well as stormwater capture strategies with planted dry detention basins and secondary drainage. All systems were designed to be low-impact, low-maintenance, and sustainable, earning LEED certification for the project.

Placemaking that Balances Form with Function
The FGCU campus provides a vibrant, dynamic setting for the student experience. With a distinct sense of place achieved through modern architectural design and broad circulation corridors, you'll find students moving between academic buildings and gathering in shaded outdoor areas. Hardscape elements throughout the Water School landscape offer paved pathways for bikes and pedestrians. Against the building, plaza areas add flexible space for campus activity to flourish.

The materials and aesthetics of AB 9 mirror the Great Lawn's distinct placemaking treatments. Alongside the Water School, multicolored plank-style pavers cut through a circular courtyard framed by turf grass and shaded by laurel oaks. Traditional light post fixtures surround the courtyard area at the outer edges, complemented by shorter LED bollards lining the interior pathway to enhance safety at night and contribute to the sense of place. Throughout the interstitial spaces, students frequently gather on the lawn or in the shade, using the landscape as an extension of the classroom and a daily backdrop for campus life.

By balancing materials and aesthetics with shaded flexible space and intuitive circulation, the Water School landscape strengthens FGCU's sense of place and demonstrates how thoughtful site design can balance form with function, supporting ecological performance and student experience alike.

Continuing a Campus Legacy
The legacy of the Water School at FGCU is one of environmental responsibility and interdisciplinary collaboration. This collaboration focuses on the many ways water permeates daily life, ecology, and the regional economy of Southwest Florida and beyond.

The campus experience reflects that mission with a consistent focus on sustainable design blending the built environment with natural surroundings, and providing students with comfortable, welcoming extensions of their classrooms outdoors. The process to get there required collaboration and knowledge of FGCU's design language and vision for the future. RVi provided that with insights from previous successful projects on the Great Lawn, the Main Entrance, and the North Lake Village housing and recreation district.

By extending the campus even further west, RVi's work with RG Architects and HuntonBrady on the Water School elevates the standard for sustainable campus design while strengthening FGCU's evolving identity. That identity is already evolving through the same design team's ongoing work on Academic Building 10, which will be the largest building on campus and a home for health sciences education, research, and clinical engagement.

To see more School & Corporate Campus projects, go to: https://landscapearchitect.com/landscape-articles/sneak-preview-of-the-school-and-campus-issue

For more information about submitting a project, go to: https://landscapearchitect.com/research/editorial/editorial-submissions.php