10. Design Guidelines

Introduction
Background
Objectives

 

INTRODUCTION

The goal of the design guidelines is to produce an overall campus design that is unified in the character of architecture and site elements as well as in the building systems components and infrastructure.

Developing new facilities and renovating of existing facilities should be viewed as opportunities to nurture and sustain a sense of campus unity through an attractive, well-conceived and -executed linkage of natural and manmade landscape, site circulation and building siting and architectural details and elements.

The design guidelines will be separate from the existing University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) design standards. The standards focus on the specifics of design and construction on this campus and should support the design guidelines. The design standards provide suggested products and installation guidelines for specifying materials for construction.

The design guidelines recommended by this master plan must provide an overall plan for the exterior spaces on campus. They are to address the aesthetics of the campus to unify the natural features with the built environment. The design standards will continue to define the specific elements that are required for campus facilities. The design guidelines will address the features and components that will unify the look of the campus.

The following background and objectives sections provide further elaboration on the purpose of design guidelines. However, the development of these guidelines will be undertaken as a second phase of the master planning process. The design guidelines will be compiled as a second document that supplements the campus master plan document.

BACKGROUND

The majority of the present UAF campus facilities have been built since the late 1950s. The larger “landmark” buildings constructed on the campus have concrete or metal clad exteriors executed in informal interpretations of post-war modern styles.

Due to limited capital resources, various U.S. government sources with government engineering oversight often funded many of the pre-statehood and pre-pipeline facilities. The postwar growth demand for campus facilities spawned some pragmatic decisions to maximize the outcome of scarce capital resources in an expeditious manner. Thus the campus has a legacy of buildings of durable, stout construction that maximize response to specific immediate program demands with minimum initial investment in interior or exterior amenities. Most of the residence hall buildings and site amenities of this era have a utilitarian look.

Architectural recognition of location has been largely limited to native stone accent panels on a few buildings and incorporation of murals or fascias on smaller buildings with interpretations of vaguely indigenous designs. The predominant building color palette is muted grays, tans and silver, similar in color to the local loess soils. In the landscape, the most physically prominent response to locality, other than modest use of local hardy plant materials, is the headbolt heater posts in the parking lots.

The majority of the buildings or building complexes (examples: Arctic Health Research Building, Library/Fine Arts, Moore-Bartlett-Skarland) lack commonality in spatial orientation, access, scale, material selection, site/entrance amenities or architectural detailing and treatment. This lack of consistent cues is a critical challenge in developing a unique, location-appropriate and harmonious ambiance to the built environment of the campus.

OBJECTIVES

The primary objectives of the design guidelines are:

Develop a rational, unified design suitable for the academic environment at UAF.

• Develop the sense of a unified campus that uniquely defines UAF.
• Create an architectural vocabulary that is high quality, cost effective and maintainable.
• Address common construction components and features such as doors, hardware, roofing, exterior wall finishes, lighting, signage, site furniture, etc.

Encourage design that is responsive to the specific site and to the local and regional context.

• Create human scale environments among buildings.
• Respond to the rigorous demands of living and working in the arctic “seasons”—winter and spring-fall.
• Connect to the native fauna, terrain and distant vistas.

Encourage design that is responsible and practical in terms of initial and long-term costs and maintenance.

Fully support the functions of the university and contribute to its continued success through:

• Efficient layouts and adjacencies.
• A quality educational environment.
• Efficient, safe pedestrian and vehicular pathways.
• An attractive natural environment.

COMPONENTS

The components of the Design Guidelines will include:

Architecture:

• Scale and Massing
• Building Form
• Materials and Color
• Elements
• Sustainable Design

Landscape and Site Design

• Landscape Concept (including sustainability)
• Site Elements
• Lighting
• Signage

Master Plan Table of Contents

[ Section 1 | Section 2 | Section 3 | Section 4 | Section 5 | Section 6 | Section 7 | Section 8 | Section 9 | Section 10 ]

Master Planning Committee website