Page 31 - College Planning & Management, March 2019

complements the campus’s eclectic mix of period styles, to fanciful organic forms such as the so-called amoeba benches.
+VG Architects was the prime consul- tant throughout the project, responsible for implementing the campus consultations, draft visioning documentation, and de- veloping design guidelines and schematic design. We provided community consulta- tions, vision and concept plan, campus design guidelines, campus open-space design and landscaping.
Community and Campus Buy-In
From the project’s inception, a strategic approach was taken that would ensure buy- in from the university community.
The vision, objectives, and key ele- ments for the master plan were based on an extensive consultative process utilizing the World CaféTM as a tool. World Café, according to Wikipedia, “is a structured conversational process for knowledge sharing in which groups of people discuss a topic at several tables, with individuals switching tables periodically and getting introduced to the previous discussion at their new table by a ‘table host’.”
Strategic visioning sessions with community stakeholders were held, and included the university’s board of gover- nors, senior administration and directors,
students, faculty, staff, and city planners. An open-house information session was
held for the general campus and neighbor- ing community. The consultations provid- ed direction for identifying a new entrance point and gateways to the campus; creating new high-quality open-space hubs or activ- ity zones that connect to existing and new pathways; relocating parking lots to the perimeter of the campus, allowing for more green-space hubs; and providing greater access and removing barriers.
The resulting design guidelines for fu- ture decision-making celebrate the historic landscape of the campus, enhance campus spaces, and improve the university’s connection with the city and neighboring community.
The campus vision and concept plan were completed in 2013; the master plan and schematic design in 2014.
As Alan Wildeman, University of Wind- sor president and vice-chancellor states on the school’s website, “This plan works in conjunction with our Campus Transforma- tion Plan to determine what the spaces in between our buildings will look like, and how the buildings connect with each other. The plan acts as a guide for future decisions regarding the aesthetics of new buildings, and it identifies key projects that could help unify the campus, and that could be under- taken as funding opportunities permit.” CPM
Deb Westman, B.E.S., B. Arch., project architect for the University of Windsor master plan, is a senior associate specializing in pub- lic urban spaces, heritage impact assessments, and sustainable design at +VG Architects (formerly the Ventin Group), a full-service Ontario-based architectural firm with offices in Brantford, Ottawa, and Toronto.
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