Villanova University's main campus located in Radnor Township, Pennsylvania, occupies 254-acres and consists of nearly 80 buildings including classroom/academic buildings, residence halls, and a conference center. Over the years, Villanova's central campus had become fractured and disjointed with internal driveways, unattractive service and parking areas, a myriad of paving materials and an overall lack of cohesiveness.

A comprehensive Landscape Master Plan was developed to transform the central campus and create a more unified, attractive and pedestrian oriented environment. The team analyzed existing pedestrian and vehicular circulation, parking utilities, and service requirements to develop strategies to eliminate and/or reduce vehicular access to the central campus. Concepts were developed for reorganizing the open spaces and walkways to create a variety of interconnected pedestrian-oriented spaces. The final Landscape Master Plan was developed, which links major spaces and buildings with a clear and well-defined pedestrian path system along with a new cohesive design vocabulary of hardscape, planting, lighting and site furnishing elements. A new campus green was created at the center of the University in place of a confusing network of unplanned crisscrossing pathways and a new pedestrian spine to replace a previous driveway. Improvements include a hierarchy of rich durable paving materials to define pathways which identify and improve sightlines to major destinations and wayfinding, while enhancing and beautifying major arrival points. The new campus landscape provides an enhanced setting for Villanova University, while preserving its rich heritage and character.

 

Later Phases of the project included providing additional residential housing on campus, upgrading the Villanova Pavilion and various landscape enhancements to improve the student experience and continued growth of the university.


The upcoming School & Campus Design Issue of Landscape Architect and Specifier News saw many firms submit their projects for feature consideration. This project was not chosen for a Feature in the issue, but we at LandscapeArchitect.com thought the project deserved to be showcased online . . .

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