SPRINGFIELD, Mo., April 12, 2017 — Drury University has selected acclaimed architecture and urban design firm Cooper Robertson to lead a strategic, momentum-building campus master planning process in the coming months.
The master plan will set a course for enhancing Drury University’s design and development over the next several decades. The plan will help bolster Drury’s new vision for academics and campus life, and it will be created with extensive input from the Drury and Springfield communities.
Representatives from Cooper Robertson will be on the Drury campus during the week of April 17 to conduct a multi-day design charrette to gather input, ideas and feedback from a variety of stakeholder groups including: faculty, staff, students, Midtown Neighborhood residents, local government officials, community leaders and civic groups.
Architect John Kirk, a partner with Cooper Robertson, says input gathered during the charrette week will be a key part of the process. It will be the first of several such collaborative idea sessions.
“In this process, the university and other stakeholders become part of the design team, taking part in a shared design vision and exploration,” he says. “It’s a significant commitment by Drury to embrace, at the onset, the inclusivity of varied constituents and an impressively broad scope of impact.”
The charrette week builds on the work done by a campus task force, which established guiding principles for the process and selected New York-based Cooper Robertson from a slate of nationally known firms. The task force is led by Drury trustees Kris Anderson and Rita Baron, and includes other trustees and representatives from Drury faculty and staff.
“Drury’s master planning task force is excited to work with Cooper Robertson and all of our stakeholders as we ask ourselves what kind of campus we want to be, and how Drury’s physical presence, both now and in the future, can not only advance the institution’s mission but have a positive energizing effect on the broader renaissance taking place in Springfield,” says Anderson, a 1977 Drury graduate and retired construction executive who resides in St. Louis. “This plan will help guide everything from pedestrian walkways and landscaping to the placement of future buildings to the design principles we will refer to when renovating or building the spaces where students learn, live and spend free time.”
Cooper Robertson is well known for campus planning, urban design, master planning and award winning architecture. Two of the firm’s most recent projects include the new Gateway Arch Museum and Visitor Center in St. Louis and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. Its work on Battery Park City in New York, for example, reimagined an entire swath of waterfront just a few blocks from Wall Street.
Cooper Robertson is currently active on many campuses including Longwood University and the Lyford Cay International School. The firm has also developed long-term plans, and designed buildings, for Ohio State, the University of North Carolina, Caltech, Yale, Hunter College, Georgetown, the Duke University Medical Center, and many more.
“We are delighted to have the expertise and experience of Cooper Robertson involved with our master planning process,” says Drury University President Dr. Tim Cloyd. “Cooper Robertson is a renowned campus planning and architecture firm that has helped transform leading institutions around the country. As Drury moves into a new era, it will be crucial for us to craft a vision of our physical campus that not only reflects our academic values, but enhances our profile regionally and nationally.”
The planning process will include distinct phases over the coming months, culminating with a plan presented to the Drury Board of Trustees at its full meeting in the fall.
“The new campus master plan will help make lasting, memorable connections, which over time will better weave the existing campus together, allow for cohesive expansion, and connect to the surrounding community, too,” says Kirk, of Cooper Robertson. “This will help make Drury University a world-class destination, a school of choice, and memorable place for all who live and visit here. Our team has greatly enjoyed getting to know Dr. Cloyd, Kris Anderson and the Drury team. We all understand and share the same high expectations for the plan that will emerge, as well as the excitement for momentum building opportunities that will spring from it.”