University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Phase II: Introduction

Campus Concepts

The goal of the second phase of the Comprehensive Master Plan is to develop concepts and alternatives that accommodate physical growth and address campus-wide planning principles. This effort continues to be framed by the University’s Guiding Principles for the Master Plan:

• Promote academic excellence, the interdisciplinary exchange of ideas, and the development of vital intellectual communities.
• Promote a united and accessible university campus with three strong, distinctive, and seamlessly interconnected centers designed to facilitate social interaction.
• Reflect the University’s responsibility to the community that founded it by respecting and being shaped, in part, by public plans and policies.
• Provide the basis for long-range capital programming and the prudent stewardship of university resources.
• Establish UB as a leader in environmental stewardship and sustainable design development.

Vision Statement

“The Vision for the University at Buffalo’s Comprehensive Master Plan effort is for UB to become a model “21st century University”— an open place of learning and a generator of new ideas that sets a standard of academic excellence and serves a diverse population in today’s knowledge based society” | Read more about the Vision and Guiding Principles

We Heard You

Over 600 people attended the Vision Phase Celebration on December 4th, 2007 at the UB Downtown Gateway.

Of the written commentary that was scribed during the day-long event, here is a sampling of what we heard, and will continue to respond to as the planning continues:

Setting the Stage for Growth

UB Administration is in the process of developing growth scenarios that reflect how the expanded academic program of UB2020 might be distributed on the three campuses.

Three of these scenarios have been illustrated during the Campus Concepts phase to explore the range of options for the quantity and shape of physical growth on the North, South and Downtown Campus.

UB Today

In academic year 2007-2008, two-thirds of the University’s built floor area (including academic, residential, and support uses) is located on North Campus. A little under one-third is on South Campus, and the remainder is scattered at other locations. Although each of the academic departments are housed at one of the three campuses, many departments have a significant presence at more than one location.

Growth in Place

One of the growth scenarios assumes that academic departments will continue to expand in their current locations, whether the department is located on one campus or has a presence on more than one campus. The exception would be Pharmacy since it is already planned to move from North Campus to a renovated Acheson Hall on South Campus.

Redistributed Growth: Option 1

Another scenario explores a migration of departments between campuses in order to develop a unique identity for each campus. A concentration of professional schools on South Campus could create a “civic engagement” campus. Likewise, in Option 1, moving three of the five Health Sciences to Downtown would establish an “academic health center” within the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC).

Redistributed Growth: Option 2

Similar to Option 1, Option 2 proposes an “academic health center” in the Downtown Campus-but with all five Health Sciences departments moving to BNMC–as well as a variety of complementary non–academic uses. That would allow vacated buildings on South Campus to be repurposed for community–oriented uses and professional programs migrating from North Campus.

Environmental Stewardship and
the Physical Plan

On March 6, 2007, UB President John B. Simpson signed the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). The signing of the Commitment signaled UB leadership’s recognition of the seriousness of global climate change and demonstrated an institutional commitment to helping lead the way towards interdisciplinary solutions. The ACUPCC obliges UB to develop a plan within two years to achieve climate neutrality as soon as possible. Climate neutrality is defined as “...having no net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, to be achieved by minimizing GHG emissions as much as possible, and using carbon offsets or other measures to mitigate the remaining emissions.”

Alongside UB’s Environmental Stewardship Council and UB Green, the Campus Plan Project Team is working to integrate far-reaching principles of sustainability that will help the university achieve its goal of climate neutrality. These principles do not stand alone: they are embedded in the concepts, diagrams and plans that have been developed to date.

• Preserve and adaptively reuse existing buildings where possible as a means to conserve building materials and embodied energy.
• Create habitable micro-climates by designing building orientation, massing and siting that is responsive to the wind and sun conditions on each campus.
• Provide alternatives to single-passenger vehicle travel by maximizing and optimizing transit options and facilitating bicycle travel.
• Consider changes to policy to alleviate the stress of additional parking demands as the University community population increases.
• Reduce the parking footprint and heat island effect by building on previously developed sites and reduce the ratio of pervious to impervious surfaces.
• Develop comprehensive and sustainable stormwater management strategies through landscaping, collection, and reuse.
• Improve the comfort and attractiveness of the pedestrian environment as a means to encourage walking.