Master Plan Summary: Iowa State University

Master Plan Summary

Prepared for the State Of Iowa Board Of Regents

Prepared by Sasaki Associates, Inc.
Anthony Blackett

With the Campus Master Plan Advisory Committee
and the Office Of Facilities Planning And Management

Need for the Plan

The Master Plan for Iowa State University will guide the physical growth of the Campus for the next twenty five to thirty years. It is the first comprehensive plan to be undertaken by the University since 1968.

The need for the Master Plan is driven by the projected addition of approximately 2.9 million gross square feet of new building space over the next two to three decades. The projected growth represents an increase of approximately 40% over existing non residential building space. The new space will be necessary to meet the requirements of research and instruction for high quality up to date facilities and to provide adequate support space including library, administrative, day care, alumni, recreation and storage facilities. The space program is a synthesis of the College Strategic Plans, the Ten Year Capital Program, and consultant interviews with deans and directors. It represents a general consensus of Iowa State's foreseeable space needs. Figure 1 illustrates projected growth in relationship to previous University growth. It should be noted that while previous facilities growth at Iowa State was primarily enrollment driven, the proposed future growth is driven by the need to modernize and improve the quality of classrooms and laboratories for teaching and research.

Goal of the Plan

The goal of the Master Plan is to accommodate the projected growth within the established physical fabric of the campus in a way that reinforces and improves existing patterns of land use, circulation, parking and open space while making wise use of limited land resources.

Process

The Master Plan was developed over a nine month period and included a comprehensive inventory of the physical setting, development of a space program, development of alternative approaches to the plan, and refinement of the preferred approach into the Master Plan. The process was characterized by broad based participation, with regular reviews of work by the Master Plan Advisory Committee and periodic reviews by select committees, administrators and the university community at large.

Study Area

Figure 2 illustrates the area included in the Master Plan study. While extensive areas to the south of the main campus and the Applied Science Center were included in the study area, the plan has focused on the 490 acre core campus area where the majority of the projected future growth will occur. Of the total 2.9 million gsf of planned space, approximately 1.9 million will be located in the existing core campus area defined by Lincoln Way, Hyland Avenue, the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad and Elwood Drive.

Summary of Master Plan Recommendations

The Master Plan is illustrated in Figure 3. The plan seeks to establish a physical structure that is both flexible in its ability to accommodate planned and future growth and compelling in its clarity and form.

1. Use Organization and Facilities Accommodation

The Master Plan recommends that the historic pattern of land uses which located the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in the center of the campus, the College of Agriculture to the east and northeast, and the College of Engineering to the west be retained and built upon. Nearly 90% of the proposed expansion in the core area is assigned to these three colleges. The continued general clustering of expansion by major college units recognizes the adjacencies and proximities required among instructional facilities. The plan recommends that new research facilities be located at the perimeter of the core area. Most of this growth will take place north of Pammel Drive, and in the long range future, north of the railroad tracks. Long range projects including student apartments, new administration facilities and storage facilities will also be located north of the railroad.

2. Circulation and Parking

The Master Plan recommends that the existing pattern of streets and pedestrian paths be maintained, with several modifications to enhance pedestrian movement and safety. Proposed modifications include the closing of Osborn Drive and Bissell Road to daytime vehicular traffic; the closing of Union Drive between Bissell Road and Welch Road; the closing of Union Drive between Knoll Road and Wallace Road; and the clarification of Welch Road and Knoll Road as the primary paths of arrival for visitors to the university. The maintenance of the majority of the existing street corridors allows for required access to buildings and minimum conflict between major utility corridors and new facilities.

The plan recommends that parking be supplied at an overall rate equal to the existing ratio of .87 parking space per 1,000 gross square feet of non residential building space, and that parking be located at the perimeter of the core campus and not create a barrier between instructional and research facilities. In order to meet the long term parking demand in the core area at the current rate, the plan recommends sites for three new parking garages. In the event that garages prove to be cost prohibitive, the plan recommends that the demand for core area parking be reduced by enhancing Cy Ride Bus service to make it time competitive with commuting by car.

3. Open Space

The Master Plan recommends that the Central Lawn area generally bounded by Beardshear Hall, MacKay Hall, Curtiss Hall and the Memorial Union be maintained as a park like open space, and that it be linked to surrounding campus areas by a series of pedestrian corridors planted with trees and shrubs to emphasize the major connecting paths of the campus. A new pedestrian corridor is proposed to extend north from Morrill Road and serve as the dominant north south link between campus expansion north of Osborn Drive and the Central Lawn area.

The plan also proposes a number of new quadrangle and courtyard open spaces and major street tree plantings to improve the quality and coherence of campus spaces in the face of increasing building density and parking requirements. Landscape and building design principles are set forth to guide future growth and reaffirm the traditional emphasis on landscape design at Iowa State.

Charts and Maps


Figure 1 Program Growth: 1880 to Present	Figure 2 Master Plan Study Area	Figure 3 Illustrative Master Plan

Facilities Planning & Management
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