CAMPUS PLANNING - Roger Williams University

2002-2003 RWU Presidential Fellowship Report: Campus Planning
Existing Conditions
Fig. 1: Figure Ground
The figure ground shows the basic structure of the campus
by highlighting the relationship between the buildings
(solids) and the spaces (voids). It also allows one to easily
appreciate the grain of the campus based on reading the
size, proportions and space between buildings. One can
also begin to understand issues such as griding, edges,
clustering and the hierarchy of buildings and spaces. In
short, the figure ground once decoded gives one the DNA
of the campus.
Fig. 2: Campus Growth
The unique pattern and scale of the original campus
buildings and spaces can be read in the Campus Growth
and Figure Ground diagrams. Latter dormitory buildings
did not follow the grid of the academic structures but
established a clear dialogue with the topography and
contour of the shoreline. This pattern was somewhat broken
by the Bayside dormitories, but was picked up again by the
Stonewall complex. The scale and footprint of the more
recent buildings changes dramatically and one can begin to
appreciate how the parking which once was on the edge of
the campus, now finds itself in the center as the campus has
grown to the North.
Fig. 3: Building Use
The basic pattern of academic buildings along the crest of
the peninsula and the dormitories along the water has
remained intact with the exception of the stonewall
dormitories which wrap around the southern edge of the
campus along Ferry Road. Administrative and Public
buildings are not organized in a clear manner and are
difficult to locate.
Fig. 4: Vehicular Circulation
Vehicular circulation on campus reflects the more relaxed
attitudes of the 70’s and the more commuter oriented nature
of the original campus. As the campus has grown and the
number of both cars and pedestrians have increased, the
inability of this original vehicular infrastructure to cope has
become increasingly serious. The main entrance to the
campus remains the original entrance to Ferrycliff Farm.
Landscaping and improvements have not kept pace with
increasing amounts of parking and radically increased
traffic volumes.
Fig. 5: Vehicular / Pedestrian Conflicts
Pedestrian circulation has not been expanded in a manner
consistent with the quality and integrity of the well
developed network of pedestrian pathways within the
existing academic core. As new sources for pedestrian
traffic have been developed (parking lots) and new
destinations (buildings) planned there has been no
comprehensive effort to plan for the increased volumes of
pedestrian traffic and to mitigate the conflicts between
pedestrians and vehicles.
New parking areas are constructed with no consideration
for how people get from these parking areas to their
destination (the academic core). People walk in the
roadways because there are no pedestrian paths or those
paths are not adequate and do not offer compelling
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