10/07/2015
BATON ROUGE – LSU announced today that it is in contract negotiations with NBBJ to
hire the firm to create a comprehensive and strategic master plan for the campus.
This comes after NBBJ and three other master planning firms gave presentations to
students, faculty, staff, and the public on Sept. 9 and 10 at the Energy, Coast and
Environment building.
After reviewing Request for Qualifications, or RFQs; presentation materials; and comments submitted by the campus community, the Master Plan Sub-Committee selected NBBJ as the firm that will work with internal and external stakeholders to create a plan for the future physical development of the campus.
“Although the 2003 Master Plan still serves as the guiding principle for all development on campus, building on the framework of that plan with a more comprehensive and strategic master planning effort is certainly in order, and I am very excited to move forward with this important planning effort for LSU,” said Roger Husser, director of LSU planning, design and construction and member of the master plan support and facilitation committee.
“NBBJ is delighted to have been selected to assist LSU with the update to the 2003 Campus Master Plan and the creation of a new comprehensive and strategic direction for the university that will provide a planning roadmap and design guide for the next 10 years and beyond. We look forward to working collaboratively with the LSU campus community on the development of the plan and, together, creating a shared vision for the future,” said Kim Way, NBBJ principal and project manager.
Several components of the master plan, including residential life, parking, dining, infrastructure, space analysis and classroom utilization, and College of Science space studies are in progress or have been recently completed. These studies will be utilized by NBBJ to ensure that the new plan is related to the future space needs on campus, driven by the programmatic needs for space; detailed and related to the needs for pedestrian and cyclist mobility throughout campus; strategic in terms of the order in which these needs should be met, and directly integrated with the university’s Capital Outlay Request, as well as presentable to the campus community and the public in terms of an accessible physical model to promote the existence of the plan and to promote interest in LSU’s future.
“Development on campus has progressed rapidly since 2003 and the current and upcoming development is unprecedented. Whereas the 2003 Master Plan identified how the campus might look in 50 years, we need to know how we should strategically grow in the next five to 10 years. An updated master plan for LSU that is developed by the campus community to meet expected outcomes will certainly serve the university well,” Husser said.
“The process that will guide the update of LSU’s campus master plan will embrace the university’s strategic success imperatives and effectively use them to develop creative planning and design thinking that is global in perspective, but grounded in the local history and culture of the institution. As planning scenarios evolve, university leadership and a diverse group of stakeholders will be able to imagine the LSU campus in fresh, new and stimulating ways,” said Dennis Brandon, NBBJ principal in charge.
Completion of the comprehensive and strategic master plan is expected to take 18 to 24 months, and several meetings with internal and external stakeholders will be scheduled to gather opinions and suggestions on future campus growth. Other master planning firm finalists include Cannon Design, Perkins + Will and Sasaki.
About NBBJ
NBBJ creates innovative places and experiences for organizations worldwide and designs
environments, communities and buildings that enhance people’s lives. Founded in 1943,
NBBJ is an industry leader in planning for corporate, healthcare and higher education
clients and has a strong presence in the commercial, civic, science and sports markets.
The firm has won numerous awards and has been recognized as one of the world’s “Top
Ten Most Innovative Architecture Firms” by Fast Company magazine.
NBBJ has more than 750 employees in 11 offices worldwide, including Beijing, Boston, Columbus, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, Pune, San Francisco, Seattle and Shanghai. Clients include Alibaba, Amazon, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Boeing, Cambridge University, Cleveland Clinic, GlaxoSmithKline, LSU, Massachusetts General Hospital, Microsoft, Northeastern University, The Ohio State University, Reebok, Salk Institute, Samsung, Stanford University, Starbucks, Telenor, Tencent, and the Wellcome Trust.
For more information, visit http://www.nbbj.com.
Contact Ernie Ballard
LSU Media Relations
225-578-5685
eballa1@lsu.edu