OFFICE 52 Architecture has established itself as a national leader in campus planning and the programming of complex academic and research environments.  We have worked for small colleges and top-tier research universities planning campus precincts, siting buildings, and programming projects that have redefined how people learn, research, and collaborate.

Our knowledge and expertise is largely drawn from Founding Principal Isaac Campbell’s experience planning and programming landmark projects.  These include Stanford University’s four-building science and engineering quad, an award-winning campus precinct that redefined how Stanford integrates disparate disciplines to catalyze cross-disciplinary expertise.  Realization of the new quad began with the programming, design, and construction of the Yang and Yamazaki Environment and Energy Building.  This LEED Platinum teaching and research building brought together disciplines from 25 different departments and all seven schools from across the institution to create a new multipronged approach to address the complex global challenges of climate change.  The spatial strategies and organizational structure of this project emphasized ‘shared’ space over ‘owned’ space and redefined how Stanford thought about and built for collaborative research.

We have planned arts precincts in Salt Lake City and for Virginia Tech, we have planned a waterfront park in Copenhagen, a new three-building quadrangle at Oregon State University and assisted Messiah College in replanning their core campus.

Our planning acumen has also made us adept at helping our clients make better site and program decisions around specific building projects.  At Carnegie Mellon University, we completely reimagined Scott Hall’s demanding research program and its highly constrained site, creating more collaborative space within the building and new site strategy that radically increased connectivity and sense of place.  The building’s innovative design has received national and international awards and has been widely published.

For the new Willie and Don Tykeson Hall at the University of Oregon, we rewrote the existing program to integrate previously disparate academic and support services with new curriculum resulting in a transformational model for student success.  This program vision permeates every aspect of Tykeson’s design, from its flexible learning environments to its collaborative advising spaces.  This includes connections out to campus with the Ellipse, a tailor-made landscaped room which supports events, programmed activity, and everyday gatherings with multiple neighboring buildings.

related and additional:

The Tykeson Hall Building Project
Campbell: Stanford Science & Engineering Quad Master Plan
Campbell: Virginia Tech Arts Precinct Plan
OSU Women’s Field Quad – College of Business Planning
69|70 Arts District Plan Salt Lake City Competition
Campbell: Stanford School of Medicine Master Site Plan
Carnegie Mellon Nano-Bio-Energy Technologies Competition
The Ellipse
Messiah College Core Campus Planning Study
Dundee Oregon Winery Master Plan Study
Copenhagen Denmark Waterfront Urban Planning Competition
Campbell: Virginia Tech Creative Arts Center Planning Study
Oregon Coastal Discovery Center Site Planning
Reclaimed Public Space: Flat Lot Urban Design Competition