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Campus Master Plan 2000 Revision
An axis is perhaps the first human manifestation; it is the means of every human act. The toddling child moves along an axis, the man striving in the tempest of life traces for himself an axis. The axis is the regulator of architecture. To establish order is to begin to work. Architecture is based on axes. . . The axis is the line of direction leading to an end. In architecture, you must have a destination for your axis.
Le Corbusier, Towards a New Architecture, English ed. 1927
Introduction
In developing this revision of the Capital Master Plan, the committee has attempted to weave these thoughts into the planning process and recommendations. It is the desire of the committee to develop the campus and its facilities into places of dwelling and work that are in keeping with the original design intent of the Campus, but also provide a comfortable environment.Since its creation in 1986, the Campus Master plan is supposed to be revised every five years. The last update was in 1991. The intent of the document was to provide a framework for future development of the University. The 1999 Capital Planning Committee has revised the 1991 plan and offers this revision with a renewed focus on the future environment of the Wake Forest campus. In developing this plan, the committee has paid particular attention to the original environment of campus, in an effort to bring increased vitality to life at Wake Forest. In doing so, the plan also addresses the ongoing need to preserve "green spaces" on campus and to enhance one of the University's greatest assets, the beauty of campus.The committee was formed in an effort to solicit input from all areas of the University. The committee also enlisted the skills of two architects to provide a professional view of campus planning and architectural consistency. The members of the committee are: John Anderson: VP, Finance and Administration Umit Akinc: Professor, Business and Accountancy Debbie Best: Professor and Chairperson, Psychology Ed Bouldin: Architect Sandra Boyette: VP, University Advancement Maureen Carpenter: Controller Jim Coffey: Manager of Landscape Services, Facilities Management Bill Davis: Director, Center for Management Communication (Babcock) Paul Escott: Dean of the College Andrew Ettin: Professor, English Kristy Eyler: Student Government Sam Gladding: Associate Provost Claire Hammond: Professor, Economics Abie Harris: Architect Michael Hyde: Distinguished Professor, Communication Ethics Minta McNally: Assistant VP, Director: Alumni Activities Chris Poe: Associate Director, Facilities Management Richard Schneider: Professor, Law Bill Sides: Director, Facilities Management Margaret Smith: Professor, Art Sarah Watts: Associate Professor, History Jack Wilkerson: Dean, Business and Accountancy Ed Wilson: Senior Vice President.
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The basic elements of this plan are:
- The Campus Environment
- Building Sites
- Traffic and Parking
- Campus Landscaping Plan
- Campus Land Use Plan
- Building Conditions Survey
Assumptions and Principles
This list of assumptions that form the basis for campus planning is abstracted from the Report on Architectural Standards, Design, and Planning, the basis for the 1986 and 1991 Master Plans. Refer to Appendix II for the full text of the report, which reflects fundamental principles inherent in the campus plan.The educational goals, spirit, and ideas of Wake Forest University are primary components in the development of a campus plan. The objective of a campus plan is to recognize the nature of the University and to provide a physical framework for its continued academic development. A good physical environment sustains learning and scholarly activities. While we seek to maintain the beauty of campus and its facilities, we must remember that academic activities are the purpose of the University's existence. The campus plan draws on the goals and objectives of the University at large. The plan develops the guidelines that protect and enhance those qualities, and projects them into an uncertain future. Although the plan deals with physical matters such as buildings and roads, heating plants and parking lots, its basic aim is to give physical expression to the ideals and aims of the University.As we continue to affirm the consistency and integrity of the modified Georgian architecture, we must ensure that, like their "outside," the "inside" of buildings provide open spaces that make us feel at home and thereby allow us to be comfortable with and appreciative of our surroundings (which, when we walk outside, should speak to us of the immense value of "green space"). The committee also recognizes the need to provide "meditative" and tranquil spaces that allow students and faculty the opportunity to enjoy quiet time outdoors on campus.
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The campus environment makes a statement about Wake Forest’s institutional values that are distinctive. The attractiveness of the Wake Forest campus is arguably one of its greatest assets. When prospective students, faculty, and other visitors compare Wake Forest to its peer institutions, the beauty of the campus is regularly acknowledged. The careful development of the campus must continue to be a top priority of the University.
To maintain Wake Forest University’s reputation for academic excellence and to provide for current and future needs, change is inevitable. The campus plan is a valuable instrument that enables the University to estimate costs, to project goals and to establish priorities for fund raising. In addition, it allows the University to do long term planning to ensure that the campus maintains its integrity and beauty 20 to 30 years from today and beyond.A major challenge facing the campus planning effort is maintaining the original nature of a rural setting within today's campus environment. This plan addresses the problems associated with the strong presence of the automobile on campus today and the need to return campus to a more natural setting. These issues are addressed at length within the plan. The committee also recognizes that the academic world must adapt to the ever-changing needs of the University population and provide for the needs of its students and employees. In light of these pressures, preservation of the tranquil, residential campus environment that has characterized Wake Forest from its beginnings becomes a difficult yet necessary task.In developing the recommendations, the committee has drawn upon the following assumptions and principles:
Program Assumptions
- Academic excellence, religious heritage, and financial stability will continue to characterize the University.
- The alleviation of congestion caused by campus and through traffic is a prime consideration in planning decisions.
- Security, access for the handicapped and service functions will be integral to planning.
- In the central campus, strategies will be developed to give pedestrians a clearly defined priority over all other traffic.
- Parking will be gradually eliminated on campus streets and moderated within the central campus. The construction of parking structures is inevitable, yet careful planning must occur to preserve the campus environment.
- Logical relations between activities and building locations must be maintained. Physical relationships between the academic, housing, service, and athletic facilities should be developed and maintained.
- Axes, courts, and vistas should direct traffic, encourage interrelationships, and create pleasure, particularly on the more formal main core of the campus. Development of new buildings should respect the courtyard and axis system, and proceed from core sites outward. Future buildings should be designed to create a "sense of space" for the regular tenant or occasional visitor to the extent possible. The integrity of architectural style on campus will be protected by 1) use of compatible materials, 2) retention of human scale in building mass, and 3) careful attention to siting to preserve interaction with surrounding green space.
- Attention to these principles will allow new buildings to be compatible with existing buildings without copying them. Buildings nearest the central campus core will most closely match existing buildings. More peripheral buildings, while compatible and of similarly high architectural quality, will have more design flexibility.
- The approved, comprehensive landscape plan will be implemented to enhance and underscore the variety of constructed and natural spaces on the campus. The environmental impact of new projects should be evaluated carefully so that University land use clearly supports long-term practical and symbolic goals.
- The spatial linkage to the core campus of new facilities must be considered before approving building sites to ensure that outlying buildings maintain the proper relationship to campus. These buildings should provide a natural setting for pedestrian traffic and should be a part of the landscape of surrounding areas.
- When siting new buildings, every effort should be made in the planning process to develop green areas as a part of the building site. These may include courtyard areas, quiet reflective areas, natural wooded areas, etc.
- New construction plans should contain measures to preserve existing green space whenever possible.
- The wooded buffer to the north of the Faculty Drive area should be preserved.
Implementation
Capital planning is a consultative process that invites interested parties to help refine the plan. The Capital Planning Committee consists of faculty from all major areas of the University, representatives from Facilities Management, Student Government representation, and professional architects and planners. Other resources and skills will be sought for inclusion when appropriate. The Capital Planning Committee is advisory to the Vice President for Finance and Administration and to the President. The University will have appropriate procedures to ensure that the plan is reviewed every five years (especially by the standing committee structure), revised and followed. The campus plan should be dynamic; at the same time, changes in it should be made with great care.A second review team has also been formed to review proposed building sites from a more holistic view. This team is comprised of the University's design professionals as well as University Facilities Management personnel. This committee’s charge is to review potential sites and facilities to ensure that they meet the architectural and land use guidelines of the Campus Master Plan from the professional’s view. All areas of design will be reviewed including, but not limited to building detail, landscaping design, coordination with neighboring facilities, traffic flow, and overall compatibility with the campus and other University structures.
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