When administrators at Rowan College at Burlington County (RCBC) made the decision to close its Pemberton campus, it set off a “whirlwind of activity” at the Mount Laurel campus, as executive director of strategic marketing and communications Greg Volpe explains. The activity included construction of a new 78,000-square-foot Student Success Center, renovations big and small to every existing building in order to accommodate the larger student population, and a redesigned central quad green space.
The central quad and its hierarchy of pathways connects the buildings and creates a sense of community at RCBC. Sikora Wells Appel senior associate Dan Chieco, who managed the RCBC project for the landscape architecture firm, describes the disconnected nature of the campus before the transformation. “A 2-1/4-acre open field separated the campus, and nothing tied the campus together. Students would actually get in their cars to drive to other buildings. A sense of community was lacking.”
Sahar Coston-Hardy
A network of walking paths serves to connect students to buildings, parking lots, and other areas of the campus.
Sahar Coston-Hardy
The new design has completely transformed the feel and functionality of the campus. Ashbery lights create a safe and secure evening experience.
Creating community and a “home away from home,” as Volpe describes it, was a goal for the college. Sikora “wanted to create that community in a graceful, interesting way,” says Sikora’s Matt Nelson. “Instead of a lot of pathways, we designed a hierarchy of connections. The central quad is a big space with connection paths. The woodland walk is less formal, more like a park with meandering walkways.” A large plaza outside the new building is the campus hub and connects the indoors with the outdoors. The quad will be used for formal events and informal activities.
Sahar Coston-Hardy
At the heart of the Rowan College campus, the central quad was designed in concert with the Student Success Center (at upper right).
Sahar Coston-Hardy
The bluestone pavers and benches create a unified aesthetic that invites people to use the space.
Campus safety was paramount to campus leaders; nearly 4-1/2 acres needed the appropriate amount of lighting for night and weekend classes and the early evenings of New Jersey’s winter months. Sikora worked with Landscape Forms to develop a lighting layout. Eighty Ashbery area lights line the walkways, plaza, and other gathering spaces across the campus. “Ashbery lights bridge the world between the new Student Success Center with its modern glass architecture and the classic brick buildings on campus,” Chieco says. “The lights are contemporary but with a traditional twist.”
Sahar Coston-Hardy
Enrollment has increased more than 15% since the central quad redesign, which has delivered a wow factor for Rowan College.
“Landscape Forms’ ability to quickly produce photometric plans was critical to our design and decision-making process,” Chieco says. “Their knowledge helped us achieve a campus that feels safe and looks attractive at night.”
“It was rewarding to witness the campus become an active place with a great buzz,” Nelson says. RCBC’s Greg Volpe adds: “Students are sticking around school more than they used to.” And enrollment continues to rise. “If visitors are expecting the old community college experience, they are going to be surprised. We have created a wow factor.”
