University of Maryland Facility Master Plan

Working with internationally-renowned landscape architect, Oehme Van Sweden, Design Collective assisted the university in the preparation of the 2030 Facilities Master Plan (FMP) Update for the 1250-acre campus. The plan will guide growth and development on the campus for the next 20 years, with a particular focus on the natural and built landscape and on creating a more sustainable transportation system. Components of the master plan included addressing and defining campus districts, future land use, building placement, circulation patterns, transportation systems, sustainability, infrastructure and utilities, open space, campus recreation services, intercollegiate athletics, in addition to landscape, arboretum and botanical garden considerations.

The master plan took shape with an intensive public process included collaboration with a number of key university stakeholders. Following an intense series of collaborative design workshops, studies and surveys with multiple reviews by the campus community, the City of College Park, the University of Maryland Board of Regents, and the University’s FMP Steering Committee, our team produced a plan that successfully integrated the design studies and guidelines into a new reference document for use over the next 20 years. The master plan update included space planning needs, student housing needs, capital projects and cost estimates as part of the projected implementation plan. The University called the 2011-2015 plan, “A blueprint for a campus that is livable and special, park-like in its setting with a distinct sense of place.”