Reinvented, Resilient, Revitalized: Optimizing Historic Campus Buildings

This panel discussion offers perspectives in optimizing historic campus buildings while adapting these structures for greater functionality, resiliency, sustainability, and long-term preservation. University architects and planners share their approaches and best practices related to reinventing historic buildings as a component of an overall campus planning strategy. The relevance of this topic is highlighted by a rethinking of campus priorities related to the pandemic and current financial crisis.

Adapting historic structures to optimize their value and utility while reducing the requirement to build anew is critical for many institutions. Optimizing existing historic buildings in lieu of expanding onto campus open space is more sustainable and economically viable, and, in some cases, preserves the identity of the institution.

Moderated by an architect engaged in planning and design on historically significant campuses, the panel of university architects and planners shares their strategic thinking surrounding revitalizing historic buildings. Examples demonstrate the sustainable optimization of campus assets, addressing deferred maintenance, and repurposing and realigning historic buildings in synergistic ways within the context of an overall campus planning strategy.

Speakers:
Alice Raucher, AIA, Architect for the University, University of Virginia
Kim Chen, RA, Director of Planning and Capital Management, Columbia University
Sarah J. Boykin, AIA, Assistant Vice President, Campus Planning, Design and Construction, The University of the South
David Lenox, RA, University Architect, Executive Director  of Campus Planning, Stanford University

Moderator:
Jeffrey Murphy, FAIA, Partner, MBB Architects

As Architect for the University, Alice Raucher reports to the Board of Visitors, advising the board and, more specifically, the Buildings & Grounds Committee, on the development of the University of Virginia's general design guidelines, as well as specific building design guidelines. Raucher manages university-wide land-use and campus planning, engaging in community and agency interface in these areas, including with the UVa Foundation. She oversees the architectural design of all capital projects and provides professional guidance on the selection of consultants associated with building and landscape projects. Raucher works with the University Advancement office on the Jeffersonian Grounds Initiative and participates with stakeholders around the grounds to advance the University’s sustainability goals.

As a New York State registered architect, Kim Chen has 20+ years of experience working in New York City in the areas of design and project management. Prior to joining Columbia University, she worked for design firms and real estate development company on projects related to academic, cultural, commercial, and large-scale mixed-use buildings.  At Columbia University Morningside campus, Chen has managed and overseen capital projects including science research labs, academic facilities, and campus planning development effort, some of which have gained LEED certifications from USGBC.

Sarah J. Boykin has managed university capital projects for much of her career, with notable contributions in the design of arts facilities; the documentation, preservation, and adaptive re-use of historic buildings; and sustainable design. An architect with over thirty years of experience, Boykin is a graduate of The University of the South and holds a master’s degree in architecture from the University of Texas at Austin. She is the co-author of Southern Homes & Plan Books: The Architectural Legacy of Leila Ross Wilburn (UGA Press, 2018) and currently serves as the Assistant Vice President of Campus Planning, Design and Construction at the University of the South in Sewanee, TN.

David Lenox, M.Arch., has been the Stanford University Architect since 2005 and has focused on establishing a framework for continued physical growth of the campus to support the mission and vision of the University. He has led the development of a campus master plan that outlines strategies to restore the original Olmsted campus plan, and has provided direction for design on all new campus buildings including milestone projects such as the Bing Concert Hall, Windhover, School of Medicine LKSC, SEQ, Knight Management Center, and the Neukom Building. He is currently the Vice President on the Board of the Association of University Architects and has served on design juries for AIA San Francisco, California Preservation Foundation, AIA National Interior Design Awards, and the Society for College and University Planning.

Jeffrey Murphy is a founding Partner of MBB Architects. His expertise in design for cultural, civic and educational institutions has received international recognition for design excellence and environmental responsibility. A LEED-accredited professional, Murphy believes sustainability is an integral component of architecture and leads the firm in seeking design solutions that embody both conceptual clarity and environmental responsibility. Murphy is engaged in planning and design on a wide range of historically significant projects. Under his guidance, the design and sustainability efforts at St. Patrick’s Cathedral earned a 2016 National Honor Award and a 2019 COTE Top Ten Award. Read the full post on Bustler