Constructed Environment

VOLUME 3

The International Journal of the

Constructed Environment __________________________________________________________________________

Grounds for Change:

Maximizing the Potential of Campus Landscapes through Strategic Partnerships and Community Design ANDREW FOX

constructedenvironment.com

THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THE CONSTRUCTED ENVIRONMENT www.constructedenvironment.com First published in 2013 in Champaign, Illinois, USA by Common Ground Publishing LLC www.commongroundpublishing.com ISSN: 2154-8587 © 2013 (individual papers), the author(s) © 2013 (selection and editorial matter) Common Ground All rights reserved. Apart from fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the applicable copyright legislation, no part of this work may be reproduced by any process without written permission from the publisher. For permissions and other inquiries, please contact [email protected]. The International Journal of the Constructed Environment is peer-reviewed, supported by rigorous processes of criterionreferenced article ranking and qualitative commentary, ensuring that only intellectual work of the greatest substance and highest significance is published.

Grounds for Change: Maximizing the Potential of Campus Landscapes through Strategic Partnerships and Community Design Andrew Fox, North Carolina State University, USA Abstract: How are individuals and organizations that are unfamiliar with the complexities of design, construction, and maintenance processes supposed to truly understand and value the holistic systems required to develop and maintain sustainable sites? An inclusive, participatory approach to the design-construction cycle offers one solution. A communitybased, hands-on approach helps synthesize beneficial relationships and promote innovation that exceed standard solutions by integrating creative, technical, financial, and managerial aspects into a framework of engagement and education. This paper describes an integrated educational approach that fuses practice, policy, place, and participation to achieve environmentally and socially responsive solutions within university campus environments. The discussion is focused on ways these principles are being used to guide the ongoing development and delivery of an award-winning, creative partnership between the Department of Landscape Architecture and University Housing at North Carolina State University. In total, the paper describes a synthetic model of programming; policy; participation; and interdisciplinary design, education, and research. This framework serves to centralize student, faculty, and campus development agendas, while also initiating community design processes that transform dysfunctional landscape spaces into environmentally responsible and celebrated campus places. Keywords: Campus Design, Service-learning, Low Impact Development, Design/Build, Strategic Partnerships

The problem is not how to produce ecologically benign products for the consumer economy, but how to make decent communities in which people grow to be responsible citizens and whole people. (Orr 2002, 12) The landscape most acutely reflects the current conflict between nature and technology; and it is in the landscape that a resolution of that conflict can most easily be found. Landscape represents a testing ground for the validity of the emerging social and political call for sustainability—the possibility that we might be able to restructure technology to serve ecological and human values rather than overwhelm them. (Thayer 1994, 235)

Introduction

N

orth Carolina (NC) State University, like hundreds of universities across the globe, works toward sustainability goals that improve campus facilities, reduce operational costs, recruit and retain students, and support research and teaching activities. Realizing these goals is an extremely challenging task because large land-grant institutions are cities within themselves— NC State University alone consists of 2,100 acres (850 hectares), 350 buildings, and 43,440 students, staff, and faculty. This makes it the largest institution of higher education in the State of North Carolina and, if it were a municipality, the 19th largest city in the state. The scale and complexity of the environmental, social, and fiscal issues facing these institutions demand new models to better leverage the opportunities associated with campus sustainability programs. Solving these challenges also requires a skilled, experienced, and diverse team, as well as significant time to develop organizational blueprints, working partnerships, and funding streams. But where does an institution begin the process of developing campus facilities that become a direct extension of a university’s mission. How might these actions better reflect, express, and serve a university’s core values? Strategic partnerships between academic units and university facilities divisions offer one approach to answering these challenges.

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THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THE CONSTRUCTED ENVIRONMENT

The following case study describes a strategic partnership between the NC State University Department of Landscape Architecture (LAR) and University Housing that engages these issues. During summer 2010, a partnership was forged to address institutional and environmental challenges through the design and construction of campus landscapes that use sustainable construction and management best practices. The partnership supports the delivery of the LAR Design/Build Studio, a course that integrates public participation, site design, and construction best practices into projects that enhance the outdoor environments within which the NC State University community lives, works, and plays. Built on an ethic of community, the studio advocates for sustainability and artistry via solutions that are socially, environmentally, and contextually appropriate. Combining this service-learning structure with campus design and low impact development processes, this partnership transforms dysfunctional landscape spaces into environmentally responsible, educationally rich, and communally celebrated campus places. Each project exposes students to methods of site analysis, site programming and layout, educational site planning and design, urban design and hardscape improvements, landscape planting design, construction management, applied low impact development (LID) best management practices (BMPs), and innovative material technologies and assembly techniques. Working within this structure, the goals of the LAR Design/Build Studio generally aspire to: •

• • • •

Foster an atmosphere of collaboration between multiple university interests including, but not limited to, the College of Design, Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Department of Horticultural Science, College of Education, University Housing, Grounds Management, Facilities Operations, the Office of the University Architect, individual students and student user groups, and various private sector service providers; Enable the implementation, study, and refinement of innovative teaching strategies; Create a program that promotes the use, study, and reporting of pioneering environmental design and development tools, techniques, and technologies; Advance NC State University as a leader in the development of leading-edge sustainable construction and management practices; and Exhort the benefits of holistic environmental solutions to the entire campus community through the creation of high functioning, experientially rich, and aesthetically pleasing campus landscapes.

Context of Application NC State University is centrally located in the Research Triangle region of North Carolina, United States of America. The Research Triangle consists of the Raleigh-Cary, Durham, and Chapel Hill metropolitan areas within the core counties of Wake, Durham, and Orange, respectively. This region continues to experience rapid increases in population growth and development pressures. The Raleigh-Cary metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is the largest metropolitan area within the Research Triangle and the 48th most populous metropolitan area within the United States (U.S. Census Bureau 2011). The City of Raleigh, home of NC State University, was the second-fastest growing MSA in the nation between 2000 and 2010, increasing its population by 41.8 percent (U.S. Census Bureau 2011). The population of Wake County alone increased more than 45 percent since 2000 and is projected to surpass 1 million residents—an additional 30 percent increase—by 2020 (NCDENR Office of Environmental Education and Public Affairs 2011). Collectively, this developmental intensification creates a number of issues pertaining to health, safety, and welfare, including the impacts of flooding, water quality, and ecological damage. NC State University, the City of Raleigh, and Wake County as a whole also reside in the Neuse River Watershed. The Neuse River Basin is North Carolina’s third largest watershed. The Neuse River is the primary contributing freshwater source feeding the Albemarle-Pamlico estuary system,

ANDREW FOX: GROUNDS FOR CHANGE

one of the most productive coastal estuaries in the United States. A specific threat to water quality in the Lower Neuse River is unnaturally high nutrient loading that comes from nonpoint sources (NCDENR Office of Environmental Education and Public Affairs 2012). Due to these urgent water quality issues and other related public health and safety concerns within the Triangle Region, large landholdings like those held by NC State present a compelling case for implementing and testing LID strategies as a part of their commitment to environmentally sound development and management strategies.

Approach and Relevance LID offers a strategic approach to water-based issues through its process-driven, site-specific methods of resource management and mitigation (Vick and Tufts 2006). LID techniques were originally developed in Prince George’s County, Maryland, USA to address nonpoint source pollutant loads entering the Chesapeake Bay’s sensitive estuarine ecosystem and associated fisheries (Prince George’s County Department of Environmental Resources 1999). LID tools and techniques take many forms, including cisterns, rain barrels, bio-swales, green roofs, and regenerative stormwater conveyance systems. One of the most widely used and most effective tools in the LID toolbox are bioretention basins, also referred to as rain gardens (Davis et al. 2009, Hunt 2003). Taken as a whole, LID stormwater design techniques embody the following five strategies (Perrin et al. 2009): • • • •

•

Conserve Resources: site design should protect existing natural assets (streams and wetlands, forested areas, healthy soil bodies, etc.) across multiple scales (watershed to individual site level) to the maximum extent practicable; Minimize impacts: where impacts to natural assets are unavoidable, every attempt should be made to limit impact extents and effects of site manipulations on natural processes; Optimize water infiltration: provide as many opportunities as possible with site design to slow, cool, treat, and infiltrate stormwater runoff to mimic the natural hydrologic cycle; Create smaller, localized areas for stormwater treatment: rather than designing large, centralized stormwater treatment facilities such as wet pond and retention basins, construct multiple, smaller treatment areas that coincide with natural drainage patterns across the landscape; and Prioritize maintenance: establish simple, reliable long-term maintenance programs with clearly enforceable guidelines. Educate residents, management companies, and local governmental agencies on maintenance protocols while placing focus on water quality improvement.

Landscape architecture is strategically positioned to participate in the research and design of innovative LID applications, including surface water management strategies. The methods employed by many landscape architects creatively solve critical environmental issues and, most significantly, generate the value-added benefits of recreation, restoration, and education (Baxter 2004, Fox 2008, Sustainable Sites Initiative 2009). In order to enhance the development of emerging LID technologies and practices, landscape architects should learn about advanced water quality BMPs such as water harvesting, permeable pavement systems, vegetated bioinfiltration and bioretention facilities, compost amended soils, and urban arboriculture. The NC State University LAR Design/Build Studio offers students the benefit of studying these elements first-hand. It affords students the opportunity to grapple with the regulatory, budgetary, design, and implementation challenges of LID systems that specifically respond to NC State campus locations suffering from environmental stresses, degradation, and lack of use.


Service-Learning as Catalyst If you want to change attitudes you don't begin by telling people something. You begin by creating a strong experience of it. Jon Charles Coe, FASLA (in Johnson 2000, 1) Service-learning is an approach to teaching and learning that “integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities” (National Service-Learning Clearinghouse 2013). Service-learning efforts serve to build community through the facilitation of strategic partnerships. Strategic partnerships are “a type of formally structured partnership that is created by persons, groups and organizations of related goals, strengths, or resources” (Banki 1997, 1016). Examples of these mutually beneficial relationships often include institutions, agencies, public/private organizations, peer-to-peer groups, and/or any combination of the above. Service-learning projects put students in contact with institutions, organizations, and individuals who have vested interests in a given locale—university faculty and staff, student residents, and campus visitors to name a few (Figure 1). Direct interaction with these stakeholders enables students to better comprehend the complexities of creating safe, healthy, and enjoyable environments, as well as gaining a better understanding of “the other” (Angotti et al. 2011). Similarly, engagement with informed and enthusiastic students serves to educate stakeholders about the important role their environmental surroundings play in their daily lives (Lawson 2005, Parece and Aspaas 2007). The union of critical investigation and hands-on making yields both indelible lessons and tangible results that expand and enrich vital learning processes and outcomes through a process that nurtures synergies and overcomes embedded barriers (Crawford et al. 2011). Ultimately, these service-learning experiences enable participants to make valuable connections— cognitive and social—of their own (Boyer and Mitgang 1996). The NC State University design/build stakeholders include, but are not limited to, University Housing staff, student residents, Office of the Campus Architect staff (administered through the campus landscape architect), Facilities Operations (operations, engineering, and maintenance), Grounds Management, and any passerby that may come in contact with the sites. Lastly, the NC State Student Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) provides longterm oversight through annual management activities that serve as a component of the organization’s community service mission.

Figure 1: Students in the LAR Design/Build Studio conduct student workshops, design charrettes, and user surveys to better understand the wants and needs of various campus stakeholders. Source: Andrew Fox


Benefits of Design/Build The LAR Design/Build Studio service-learning structure activates the creative processes through case studies; inventory and analysis of microclimates, watersheds, programmatic functions, operation and maintenance protocols; schematic design development (multiple explorations and iterative submittals); and peer-to-peer learning promoted through project teaming. Moving beyond textbooks and computer applications, the real-time learning environment created through this hands-on approach combines theoretical and technical information into the real-world classroom of NC State University’s campus landscape (Figure 2).

Figure 2: The design/build course turns the campus landscape into a hands-on laboratory, exposing students to and allowing experimentation with construction materials and techniques. Source: Andrew Fox

Design/build experiences prepare design students for the complex realities of professional practice through direct exposure to construction practices, observations of dynamic processes (natural and constructed), discussions with industry experts, and direct interaction with stakeholders (Carpenter 1997, Winterbottom 2002). Each project moves students beyond a superficial exposure to emerging technologies via hands-on interaction with the true scope of a project—outreach, analysis, design, assembly, management, and assessment. In this way, each design/build course offers rich and unique learning opportunities that surpass abstract classroom knowledge through the development of a deeper sense of applied understanding about the interconnectedness of the environments we design, build, and inhabit (Tai and Lambda 2003, Winterbottom 2003). Additional program objectives include educating participating students through hands-on exposure to advanced environmental design techniques; enhancing campus-wide understanding of sustainable construction strategies; and educating campus residents and studentsat-large through the development of engaging site design and artfully interpretive environmental elements.

Origins: Syme Hall Rain Garden (Summer 2010) The NC State University Department of Landscape Architecture initiated their first design/build studio in the summer of 2010 with assistance from a $20,000.00 NC State University Office of the Provost Innovative Summer Teaching Grant. The graduate-level studio focused on LID and


stormwater management. Its primary objective was to expose students to a systems-based approach that promotes healthy, holistic outdoor environments (Figure 3). Through the study and use of both LID and community engagement strategies, the course continually challenged students to adapt and innovate within the framework of localized social, institutional, political, regulatory, and environmental conditions. These synthetic skills are essential to landscape architects, and are specifically tied to the NC State University mission and campus-wide commitment to developing state-of-the-art technologies and BMPs. The course was delivered over a 10-week summer semester. The first 5-week session was dedicated to stakeholder meetings, site analysis, and schematic design. During this time the students were divided into five teams, each responsible for a schematic design proposal. This process culminated in a juried design competition where the final design was chosen. The winning proposal focused on resource-wise landscape design, including reuse of demolished concrete sidewalk for retaining walls, use of high fly ash concrete (a byproduct of coal burning), artfully repurposed infrastructural remnants, amended rain garden and upland planting soils, and a rainpowered, cistern-to-splash basin water feature (Figure 4). Upon selection of the preferred alternative, students quickly developed a set of construction documents and, during the second 5week session, constructed the site. The final product exceeded all expectations (Figure 5). In an email to members of the NC State University Upper Administration (August 13, 2010), Dr. Timothy Luckadoo, NC State University Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, summarized the project’s immediate impacts: The transformation of this area is among the most dramatic I have seen in my 18 years here. The design and quality of construction are outstanding. The function of this rain garden will provide real protection for our groundwater and streams.

Figure 3: A systems-based approach focuses on the integration of ecology, economics, and user experience. Source: Andrew Fox


Figure 4: The stormwater treatment train flows from Syme Hall’s gutter system, into a 500-gallon cistern, down a filtration channel, over a runnel, and into a sediment forebay where particles and pollutants fall out before the water seeps into the surrounding rain garden. Source: Brad Bieber

Figure 5: Syme Hall now has a lush patch of naturalized habitat that beautifies this corner of campus while also cleansing water and educating passersby about the benefits of low impact development. Source: Andrew Fox


Program Development and Master Planning (Spring 2011) Due to the success of the Syme Hall Rain Garden, the NC State University LAR department received an additional $175,000.00 from University Housing to deliver five more design/build courses. This guaranteed funding allows the design/build program to iteratively experiment with state-of-the-art design, management, and mitigation methods, including the continued research of stormwater capture, treatment, reuse, and release. It also allows the program to substantiate itself through a systematic, long-term approach to site development, management, research, and reporting. A Master Planning and Site Selection phase involving a studio course was conducted during the 2011 Spring Semester. This master-planning phase served as the primary design investigation and production stage: research, analysis, theory and criticism, master plan development, and sitespecific schematic design proposals. Design and production activities focused on both real-time observation and in-studio assessment of historic and contemporary building practices that promote environmental health through low impact development practices. Project foci included water quality, air quality, resource-wise management, material durability, life-cycle costing, environmental education and stewardship, and eco-revelatory design features. (Eco-revelatory design is an approach to design that highlights significant environmental and cultural aspects of community and region). Working closely with University Housing representatives, students developed various master-planning schemes. Ultimately, the feasibility studies and design proposals resulted in the selection of a residential sub-area plan located on central campus. This sub-area was then divided into five discrete project phases for delivery across the 2011-2015 academic years (Figure 6). The five phases include two distinct project areas: Artists’ Backyard (Phases 1/2/3) and Owen’s Refuge (Phases 4/5). Presently, the LAR Design/Build Studio (LAR 500.001) is delivered during the 16-week spring semester starting in January and ending in early May. Each course reassesses and refines one of the five site-specific schematic design proposals generated during the initial 2011 Master Planning and Site Selection phase. The overarching goal of the annual program is to develop and test strategies that promote mental and physical wellbeing of the general student population, faculty, and staff. Each course asks participating students to investigate innovative ways in which essential ecological and social systems should guide the retrofit of dysfunctional campus landscapes. For the purposes of the LAR Design/Build Studio, dysfunction is defined as landscapes with diminished environmental function (i.e., erosion and/or flooding issues) and/or landscapes that do not support, or in some cases impair, social and maintenance functions. Functional determinations are made through on-site observations, and interviews and surveys with various stakeholder groups. Solutions to these issues are developed within a framework of healthy ecosystems, accessible and enjoyable campus open space(s), innovative best management practices, and strategic partnerships. Projects explore various aspects of regional physiology, endemic landscape systems, material innovation, and experiential aspects of place. Students research each project area’s intrinsic functions, such as internal and external connectivity, user patterns, hydrology, microclimates, topography, and vegetation. These analytical steps culminate in a refined schematic design that is approved through standard campus design review and permitting processes.


Figure 6: A 5-year plan (2011-2015) guides the program’s development toward a comprehensive scope and scale that could not be achieved in any singular design/build project. Source: Jon Blasco

The design/build process quickly and continuously moves students from critical analysis and critique of built works toward actual system(s) assembly with an intense focus on advanced and emerging landscape architecture construction technologies—materials, methods, and manufacture. While working in the studio setting, students concentrate on elements such as detail development, construction documentation, cost estimating and material procurement, and construction feasibility. All design refinements are based on each project’s spatial, programmatic, and functional requirements (i.e., environmental, operational, social, and maintenance needs), material availability, and related procurement and logistical cost considerations. Upon finalizing the design development drawings (permit), the studio moves out into the field. Once mobilized on the site, the students’ tasks include, but are not limited to developing work plans (critical path schedule), undertaking construction activities (demolition through installation) and, finally, closing out the project (demobilization and punch list). At the time of this paper’s submission, three master plan phases (of five) had been completed—Artists’ Backyard: Phase I and II.

Artists’ Backyard: Phase I (Summer 2011) In 2011, the LAR Design/Build Studio designed and constructed the first phase of the Artists’ Backyard, a stormwater retrofit project behind the historic Turlington Residence Hall. The students were once again responsible for all aspects of construction, project management, and construction administration. Leading-edge strategies were employed, including the use of rain water collection systems, rain gardens, permeable pavements, material recycling and repurposing, urban arboriculture techniques, structural and amended soils, and hydro-zoned plantings. Specific sustainable site strategies included reuse of 15 tons of salvaged flagstone paving recovered from the demolition of the Talley Student Center, construction of a permeable brick pathway system, installation of a 500-gallon cistern, use of air excavation techniques to protect and preserve two 100-year old Shumard oaks, installation of water infiltration wells to the native saprolite soil substrate, creation of interpretive signage, and development of numerous stormwater conveyance features. The results were transformational (Figures 7 and 8). In addition to creating an engaging environment that exposes students and staff to innovative and sustainable stormwater management strategies, the project’s success further strengthened partnerships between numerous campus departments. One such example is the project’s reuse of the Talley Student Center flagstone. Originally slated for disposal, the carefully coordinated effort to salvage and reuse the paving material illustrates the benefits of fostering communication between campus units. In the end, this simple step led to significant cost reductions and decreased amounts of landfilled waste, while also creating one of the most unique and tactile gathering spaces on campus.


Figure 7: Prior to development, the Artists’ Backyard site was viewed by nearby residents as an unsightly and dangerous space because it was dark, devoid of understory plant life, and lacking user amenities. Source: Jon Blasco

Figure 8: After development, the site included permeable brick pathways, seating areas, native plantings, lighting, and a cistern and three large bioinfiltration cells that collect and cleanse stormwater. Source: Andrew Fox

Artists’ Backyard: Phase II (Spring 2012) The second phase of the Artist’s Backyard expands upon the design work completed in phase one. Major design components included the replacement of a deteriorated wood deck with a permeable brick patio and custom-built redwood tables and benches (Figure 9). The tables are wired for power to entice students to work outside in the mild North Carolina climate. Additionally, intimate


seating areas were designed within the adjacent garden areas (Figure 10). The seats were designed with adjustable backs so users can customize their garden views. During this phase, a stone-lined channel that mimics an ephemeral stream was built to capture and convey stormwater (Figure 11). The stream feature flows across the site, under an arched bridge, and through a large scupper that feeds a future rain garden feature (to be designed and installed in the project’s final phase). Finally, an unused staircase was transformed into a one-ofa-kind seating nook through the addition of benches and industrial-quality, hand-welded steel planters (Figure 12). The planters were designed with green roof drainage technology, engineered planting media, and a contemporary planting composition to contrast the building’s traditional architecture. Similarly, the overall planting design provides a woodland-like setting to juxtapose the site’s strong orthogonal layout.

Figure 9: The once lifeless area now contains a large permeable paved patio with tables, benches, and barbeque grills to support both individual and communal activities. Source: Andrew Fox

Figure 10: Low benches with reversible backs were designed to connect users with their surroundings through the affordance of variable views and an enhanced sense of isolation and intimacy within the garden. Source: Andrew Fox


Figure 11: Compositionally and functionally, the naturalized stormwater conveyance feature links together the various garden spaces. Source: Andrew Fox

Figure 12: Students turned an abandoned staircase into a lush seating area using green roof technology. Source: Andrew Fox


Value-added Outcomes Things look great in the Artists' Backyard. This is the most beautiful spot on campus. Your learning-by-doing approach has made an incredible difference in the environment, but more importantly, in the lives of your students. I am proud to be affiliated with you and your team. (email from Dr. Timothy Luckadoo to Andrew Fox, May 3, 2012) Although most concerned with the delivery of rewarding educational experiences, the financial costs and benefits of the program are always carefully considered. Following the completion of each project, there is a budget audit. With the assistance of participating students, faculty, and staff, industry-standard design and construction cost models are generated and compared to actual design/build project costs. These findings are compiled and reported to University Housing and College of Design leadership. Upon verification of outcomes, necessary budget and scope adjustments are implemented to streamline and improve subsequent projects. University Housing’s initial investments have shown tremendous financial returns because each built work has significantly enhanced campus residential landscapes at a fraction of traditional development costs. To date, the design/build projects have been developed at a total cost of $90,000.00, with $58,500.00 invested in construction (hard) costs. Compared against the $331,500.00 estimated cost of traditional third party contracting, the partnership has produced a $241,500.00 net benefit for the NC State University community. Additionally, 15 paid teaching assistantships have been funded outside of the Department of Landscape Architecture’s annual operating budget (a value of more than $25,000.00) and 15 regional and national experts have been brought to campus as lecturers and project advisors. The program also supports research activities. Presently, project-related research such as postoccupancy (i.e., use/user preference), post-construction (i.e., functionality/durability), and Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) assessments are being developed. One of the great benefits of the partnership’s multi-year funding period is short-term, longitudinal, and before/after data collection streams. The research components of these projects offer rich opportunities for collaboration. For instance, more than 10 university departments and divisions, involving more than 50 faculty and staff, and hundreds of students, have participated on projects. Post-construction research and stakeholder engagement allows design work and construction techniques to continually improve. The collection, analysis, and synthesis of this data also add a dimension of scholarly rigor to all associated student work. For example, post-construction site observations and assessments resulting from performance measurements continue to influence the development of future university projects. These assessments use industry measurement standards and sustainability metrics such as LEED NC, Sustainable Site Initiative, life-cycle analyses, and embodied energy audits to evaluate each project’s true cost(s) and/or performance (Figure 13). In total, the overall quality of the program and its products has been validated via peer-review and recognition. After only four years of operation, LAR Design/Build Studio projects have received 14 awards (national, regional, and local); have been presented at 13 invited lectures and peer-reviewed conferences; and have been described in more than 25 local, national, and international articles. Each of these outcomes helps substantiate the role student-led, communitycentered design/build efforts play in the creation of landscape amenities replete with economically, ecologically, and experientially substantive offerings. Because the LAR Design/Build Studio projects have been so successful, University Housing has invited students to participate in additional projects that are funded and developed outside of the studio’s normal project cycle (Figure 14).


Figure 13: A spin-off seminar uses design/build project data to conduct detailed landscape performance assessments. Sources: Yinglin Ji, Zhe Pang, and Xin Zhong


Figure 14: Upon special request of University Housing, four landscape architecture students designed and managed the construction of the Lee Hall West Side Stormwater Improvement Project as an independent project (Summer 2012). Source: Andrew Fox

Lessons Learned The two largest factors that contribute to the ongoing success of the LAR Design/Build Studio are continuity and adjacency. Continuity is an essential dimension because it creates explicit connections between project phases (past, present, and future) and tasks (design, construction, management, research, and reporting). This form of “slow transformation” has created a deep trust; trust leads to a shared willingness to support informed risk over time. Informed risk is mandatory to innovate. Continuity also expands scholarship and curricular opportunities, including the development of new courses, opportunities for independent or self-directed student projects, and expanded research opportunities. The dimension of adjacency relates to both time and physical location. Building in a way that purposefully connects students, faculty, and staff to a place fosters a strong sense of ownership. Over time, individual projects accumulate into a singular, holistic environment that is exponentially greater than the sum of its parts. This longterm connectedness creates a legacy of both place and program—tangible artifacts that can be (re)visited and shared across seasons, semesters, and years. Reflection also affords the opportunity for critique, and much work remains. The greatest challenges include time demands and program sustainability:

Time Demands Delivery of built work is an intense, time consuming, and exhausting effort that requires working collectively, as much as possible, during daylight hours. These on-site construction demands often pose conflicts with student class schedules. Thus, establishing clear project schedules and expectations becomes essential to the studio’s workflow. Students participating in the course are required to maintain timesheets throughout the semester. Semester totals range from 200-250 hours per student, equaling 15-20 hours per week average. Long hours are not normally an issue because students perform their traditional studio work during evening and/or weekend hours. These patterns do not hold true for a design/build structure that strictly adheres to a daytime


schedule that runs concurrent with other courses. These weekday time constraints do not conform well to project operations, especially when amplified by 15-18 students. This places great strain on the instructional staff, often resulting in staff (faculty and teaching assistants alike) working on-site more often and for longer durations than students. Reducing the scale and scope of projects and/or developing a co-requisite seminar course to increase credit hours and reduce cross-curricular conflict are possible methods of addressing this issue.

Program Sustainability As is the case with most community-based initiatives, a highly committed individual or small group of “champions” often sustains a program. Given the substantial investments of time, funding, and resources needed to create a high-functioning, long-lived enterprise, organizational planning becomes fundamental to the long-term viability of a service-learning program. In the case of a landscape architecture design/build studio that seeks to build more than an arbor or install plants, instructors must have a unique skill set. At a minimum, an instructor must have significant consulting and contracting experience, effective teaching and engagement capabilities, institutional knowledge, and professional registration as a landscape architect, architect, engineer, and/or contractor. This is especially true when our litigious society is contrasted against the reality that design/build construction crews are composed of untrained and often untested design students. In these ways, program sustainability becomes a major concern. Under-promising (starting small) and over-performing (succeeding beyond expectations) is the key. Beginning with modest projects that operate safely and perform at high levels are critical due to their ability to incrementally build trust with university risk managers, lawyers, and administrators. Once success(es) and trust have been achieved, projects may then be allowed to grow in scale and complexity. Toward these ends, an instructor must demonstrate an ability to establish a clear chain of command, prepare and organize project sequencing (including accounting for inevitable change), and develop individual and communal relationships with others who can support the delivery of each project. These relationships must include working with campus landscape architects, architects, and/or engineers to establish clear protocols for project submittals, approvals, inspections, and to ensure that all construction activities are safety conducted to the maximum extent practicable. When addressing the possibility that a program may live and die with one person, creating a program identity larger than any singular individual is another fundamental step toward longevity. Building a strong program identity and strong partnerships from the outset allows individual projects to be indelibly linked to the program, host department, and client, thereby transcending perceptions of individual ownership or authority. Other strategies may include transition planning—fostering graduates and/or junior faculty who have participated in the studio as students and teaching assistants (an approach used successfully by Auburn University’s Rural Studio to address the tragic loss of Professor Sam Mockbee). Lastly, developing an “Operations and Management” manual to document the program’s origins, intent, procedures, partners, aspirations, and etcetera is recommended to maintain continuity via the transfer of knowledge across time, people, projects, and programs.

Conclusion In its entirety, the NC State University LAR Design/Build Studio aspires to meet environmental challenges by transcending standard educational outcomes via the value-added benefits of student, campus, and community partnerships, and promoting the importance of essential ecosystem services to achieve the mandates of health, safety, and welfare. Service-learning and engagement opportunities support these goals by uniting students, faculty, staff, and the surrounding community around the development of meaningful, shared solutions, thereby building communal


bonds in addition to landscapes. The course sequence aspires to expand learning potentials far beyond the formal classroom setting—physically, socially, and temporally. Working within this integrated framework, the strategic partnership serves the NC State University campus community through the creation of student-centered, environmentally driven testing sites. Each a laboratory for hands-on learning, team building, place making, and innovative environmental design solutions, the projects grown from the LAR Design/Build Studio seek to inspire students, staff, and faculty from departments across campus to actively participate in the science, technology, and collaborative missions of NC State University. In total, this multidisciplinary partnership offers valuable lessons about developing responsive and responsible learning landscapes capable of leading campus communities toward more sustainable futures.

Acknowledgement I gratefully acknowledge Gene Bressler, FASLA, Rachel Freyer, and the two referees for their comments throughout the development of this article.


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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Andrew Fox: Andrew is an assistant professor of landscape architecture and a University Faculty Scholar at North Carolina State University. He is a registered landscape architect with more than fifteen years of experience in the landscape design and construction industries. He specializes in the areas of urban design and site construction, with a focus on low impact development (LID) and participatory design. He is most interested in public landscapes with a concentration on community involvement, environmental education, and the development of sustainable landscape systems. Andrew holds a Bachelor of General Studies from the University of Michigan and a Master of Landscape Architecture from Louisiana State University.

The International Journal of the Constructed Environment explores, in a broad-ranging and interdisciplinary way, human configurations of the environment and the interactions between the constructed, social and natural environments. The journal brings together the work of practitioners, researchers, and teachers in the architectonic and landscape arts. The resulting articles weave between the empirical and the theoretical, research and its application, the ideal and the pragmatic. They document and reflection upon spaces which are in their orientations private, public, or commercial. As well as papers of a traditional scholarly type, this journal invites presentations of practice—including experimental forms of documentation and exegeses that can with equal validity be interrogated through a process of academic peer review. This, for instance, might take the form of a series of images and plans, with explanatory notes that articulate with other, significantly similar or different and explicitly referenced places, sites or material objects. The International Journal of the Constructed Environment is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal.

ISSN 2154-8587

Constructed Environment

Constructed Environment

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