Bard College - Campus Master Plan

Annandale-on-Hudson, New York

Set in the historic Hudson River Valley, the 600-acre campus is an eclectic assortment of postmodern, Gothic, and 19th-century estate architecture. Recently, Bard has grown significantly, adding more than 500 students and expanding the curriculum. Now, as enrollment levels at 1,800 students, the college faces the challenge of "right-sizing" its facilities.

As part of the college’s strategic planning process, we created a campus framework that addresses space needs, aligns with their constrained financial realities and advances their commitment to sustainability. The "Ridge and Valley" framework treats the historic Ridge Campus as a formal space organized by quads, and approaches the newer Valley Campus as an informal space that incorporates the essential character of the landscape.

Within this framework, we have developed a series of discrete proposals that creatively and strategically respond to facilities, open space and circulation needs. The proposals range from an expansion of the campus dining hall to public realm improvements along the primary campus circulation to a conversion of a storage barn into a black box theater.