As the university continues to develop the master plan for the future of Georgetown, we’re taking a closer look at some of the concepts in the master plan that were presented at Planning 301 in November 2014. You can download the presentation from Planning 301 here. In the last post, we looked at a assessment of campus spaces that Sasaki Associates conducted. In this post, we will more closely explore the concept for a student life corridor in the heart of campus.

Georgetown is seeking to make the Main Campus a more residential living and learning campus that better integrates the residential experience with academic and social life. By creating high-quality residential buildings and student spaces, Georgetown can remain a competitive university and an attractive place for students for the future.

The university’s master planning principles include making the campus more pedestrian friendly and organizing the campus into coherent districts, according to the use of different spaces. The concept of a student life corridor helps achieve those goals.

The master plan envisions a student life corridor in the heart of campus. This vision includes a new residential building on Harbin Terrace, a new academic building south of Regents Hall, a pedestrian boulevard on Tondorf Road, and multiple floors of student space along the corridor.

The image above helps illustrate the vision. On the left is the Multisport Field with the Hariri Building in the distance. On right is a new building on Harbin Terrace with two floors of student space (highlighted in yellow) and Harbin Hall. Tondorf Road, primarily a basic vehicular road now, would become a pedestrian boulevard with outdoor and green space.

The cross-section image above, looking west, shows the connections between the new residential building, Harbin Hall, a new academic building, and Regents Hall. The bottom two floors of these buildings would provide new student life space.

The concept for the new residential building would feature apartments for upperclassmen. Students have articulated an interest in high-quality apartments that feature more individual rooms, kitchens and common space, and provide a greater sense of independence. As these are only concepts, there is no set timeline for these projects.

A new building on Harbin Terrace would also feature one floor of academic space that could connect to New North. This would integrate residential life with academic life through building design, and also provide a seamless connection from the new building through New North, Old North, and to Healy Hall.

In addition to a new residential building, the vision for a student life corridor includes a new academic building south of Regents Hall. The Sasaki space assessment showed a need for more laboratory and research space on campus. A new academic building, integrated with Regents Hall, could strengthen the research environment with new facilities adaptable to the needs of different research projects.

The bottom two floors of these buildings, at the level of Tondorf Road, would be the signature student life space. At Planning 301, attendees provided ideas for future campus space, include meeting space for student clubs, lounge space for nontraditional or graduate students, or general space for social life. A student life corridor could help fill those needs. At this stage in the planning process, the program, or use of the space, is undefined. It could include retail and food options, expanded space for student services, and other social space. Students have an opportunity to shape what that space becomes.

In addition to creating new space, the master plan envisions removing all vehicle traffic on Tondorf Road north of Harbin Terrace to help make the space more pedestrian and bicycle friendly. Instead of an asphalt street with parking for Facilities vehicles, Tondorf would become a pedestrian boulevard, turning the center of campus into a vibrant outdoor space.

The vision for these new spaces would complete the student life corridor, starting with Leo’s and the Healey Family Student Center in the south and continuing along Tondorf Road to the Leavey Center.

What kind of student life space should this become? Attendees at Planning 301 suggested many ideas and we encourage you to share your ideas and feedback in the comments. In our next post, we’ll look at the future of Yates Field House.