By Roxanne Squires
ATLANTA 鈥� Architecture and urban design firm Cooper Robertson has announced its selection to develop聽the next phase of a master plan for Georgia State University (GSU), as the leading academic institution prepares for聽growth and major new initiatives.聽
The master plan work entails the reshaping and enhancement of the main downtown Atlanta campus as聽well as five satellite campuses throughout the state.
This next phase is a part of a medium- and long-term strategic plan聽in progress at the 52,000-student public university, which anticipates expanding to 60,000 students within the聽next decade.聽
The main components of Cooper Robertson鈥檚 work include planning for more students living on campus in Atlanta as well as creating a unified identity for the entire Georgia State University (GSU) system, which has grown over the past several decades to include facilities across Georgia in Newton, Alpharetta, Dunwoody, Clarkston and Decatur.
Mike Aziz, AIA, Cooper Robertson鈥檚 stated that directly integrating these 鈥楶erimeter Colleges鈥� into the GSU umbrella is crucial to the university leadership鈥檚 strategic vision.
John Kirk, AIA, partner at Cooper Robertson, explained that the new planning effort aims to make GSU into a whole that鈥檚 greater than the sum of its parts.
鈥淥ur challenge and our goal for the master plan聽update is to create connective tissues that better tie the central GSU location to its surroundings, addressing聽the push-pull relationships inherent in any urban institution, as we work to weave the main campus and the聽university’s formerly disparate parts into a more cohesive and legible fabric,鈥� said Kirk. 聽
The GSU master plan update report and its specific recommendations is anticipated to be released later this spring.
Cooper Robertson has earned wide renowned for its campus projects and is currently implementing master聽plans at Longwood University in Farmville, Va., and Drury University in Springfield, Mo.
The firm has聽also developed long-term plans and designed buildings for the University of Delaware, North Carolina State,聽Ohio State, the University of North Carolina, Cal Tech, Yale University, Hunter College, Georgetown, the Duke聽University Medical School, among others.