SCS Complex Information and Blog

The Landscape Architects for the project, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates recently gave a presentation on the landscape design to the University Design Review Committee. You can find the presentation slides here.

The landscape will be unlike anything else we have on campus. Some interesting features of the landscape include:

An outdoor “winter garden” between the two buildings will be planted with bushes and small trees that bloom in late winter (e.g. witch hazel). It will be surrounded by glass which overlooks it from interior spaces including the main classroom area. There will be a walkway through the garden and a large set of stairs on the North-West corner that can be used for sitting on nice days.

The trees. There will be several groves of trees. In the space between the buildings and Forbes Ave. will be a grove of Honey locust trees. In the space between the Gates Center and Newell Simon Hall will be a grove of Quaking Aspen trees, which have a bark like birch trees. In the space leading up to the cut will be a grove of Black Locust. There are many other trees on the site.

The green roofs. Many of the roofs of the two buildings will have plantings on them. Perhaps the most impressive will be the green roof on the East side of the Gates Center, which will be low enough to be visible from the cut.

The “rain garden“. This is actually a stormwater retention area that will double as a small marsh area supporting plants that thrive in a moist environment. It will have a bridge over it.

The patio. Between the Gates Center and Newell Simon Hall will be a patio that can be used for eating and hanging out. It will be accessible via a door from the Perlis Atrium in Newell Simon Hall as well as doors from the Gates Center. Off one end of the patio will be a space for a Volleyball court.

Overall we will be increasing the greenspace on the site from 52,000 square feet to 120,000 square feet.Also see the post on How Green is Our Valley.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 22nd, 2006 at 5:07 pm and is filed under Design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.