As the commercial real estate market rebounds, especially in Boston’s suburbs, many developers are allocating resources to build, rehabilitate and expand corporate campuses. With such an opportunity in the marketplace comes many challenges for site designers, including establishing a distinct and unified image for office parks.

Much like a college campus, which often exhibits an architectural symmetry between buildings and landscape design, a corporate campus should also present a unified character. Not only does a unified image lend credibility, professionalism and brand identity to a corporate campus, but a successful cohesive campus also allows for efficient access, circulation and way-finding around the site for pedestrian and vehicular traffic.

While it is ideal to plan for a cohesive design before construction begins, a commitment to unify a campus can be made at any time in its life cycle. Through strategic site design and a comprehensive master planning process, a corporate campus can achieve a unified image and unique identity.

What makes a corporate campus feel like a campus? While green grass comes to mind, a vast, bucolic setting is not required. In fact, harmony of elements is the primary factor that makes a campus feel like a campus. If there exists a sense of consistent unity, employees and visitors will immediately know when they have entered its perimeter and will have a clear sense of how to reach desired buildings, check-in desks and the like.

A harmonious interplay of buildings, grounds, programming, security and layout creates a cohesive campus and contributes to efficient pedestrian and vehicular circulation. A consistent site vocabulary is also critical in the unification of a corporate campus. Uniform signage and graphics, hierarchical paving materials, site furniture, fencing, planting and edging lend legibility, orientation and clear boundaries and perimeters.

Plan the Work, Work the Plan

The most lasting, effective, and economical way to achieve campus unity is to establish a master plan for development. A master plan can outline standards for elements such as signage, fencing, receptacles and furniture and prevent the inconsistencies and the hodgepodge feel that arises from ad hoc improvements. Investing time and resources into creating the master plan offers a multifaceted, appreciable return that includes streamlined decision-making achieved by elucidating cohesive design standards.

Once the decision is made to strive for an enhanced campus feel and a master plan has been developed, a design firm can utilize a wide range of elements and approaches to enhance unity and identity, such as:

• Adding courtyards and greens between buildings, as well as paving and fencing to establish a more pedestrian character;

• Creating a clear entry experience for the site and the individual buildings;

• Incorporating campus focal points or icons, such as a fountain or sculpture; and

• Developing or enhancing a campus promenade.

A Unified Front

A comprehensive master plan was recently completed for Wyeth Inc.’s campus in Cambridge. Wyeth purchased three buildings on 7.5 acres to serve as a satellite research and development complex to its headquarters in Andover. The three buildings were of diverse architectural styles and located on non-uniform sites, mostly consisting of parking lots and other large paved areas.

In order to create a unified corporate campus that would be easily accessible and maneuverable for employees and visitors, as well as establish a sense of professionalism and corporate identity, the landscape architects created a master plan that reorganized the site and established consistency through strategic material selection. The master plan also provided cost estimates and created a phasing plan so that Wyeth could incorporate financial resources into the proper year and plan for site construction on an occupied campus. Because there was a fixed budget for the project, the master plan prioritized landscape features and focused the budget to meet the campus unification goals.

A variety of tactics were implemented to unify the Cambridge site and create a campus feel. Because the existing buildings were architecturally dissimilar, as were the sites on which each building sat, the landscape architects selected harmonious materials and reorganized each site. The cohesive campus appearance was achieved by:

• Adding building entryways with outdoor seating and garden areas, featuring bluestone pavers inset in peastone. The consistent outdoor seating and garden areas placed at the entryway of each building gave the campus a more unified character. The use of peastone, a pervious material, was a strategic “green” design element as well. Because the site is in a flood zone and the city did not want to add drainage to the already overburdened municipal system, the site designers created water gardens in planting areas and used peastone, which would allow stormwater to infiltrate back into the ground instead of sheeting the water off-site.

• Installing consistent plant materials in entryway gardens and in other designated areas throughout each site. Trees, shrubs and perennials that provided seasonal interest and low maintenance were planted near each building and along the main road.

• Placing similar site furnishings on each site. Similarly, site furnishings (benches, trash receptacles, bollards) were placed in front of each building to create a cohesive aesthetic.

• Siting consistent light fixtures around each building. Like the consistent plantings and site furnishings, uniform lighting installed at each site also provided a unified campus appearance. Pedestrian-scale cut-off light fixtures were also a “green” design due to their downward angle, which reduces light pollution.

• Designing a unified identity along the street edge. Because a major city street separates one building from the other two, the site designers extended the consistent site materials – like fencing and street trees – along the street edge, creating a delineated entrance to the campus.

Landscape design services were also provided for an office property in Waltham. The 448,000-square-foot office project by David Marcus Partners was renamed Reservoir Woods and was needed to house several companies. The architects at Reservoir Woods faced a unique challenge – establishing a distinct corporate image for each of the building’s three addresses while creating an overall sense of unity for the site. To strike a balance between the contradicting design principles of unity and distinction, the landscape architects designed each entrance with similar granite pavements, native stone walls, plantings and special light fixtures, but arranged the materials in different ways at each entrance to distinguish one entryway from another.

In addition, the site designers installed subtle screening with walls and plantings between entrances and established a hierarchy that emphasized the multiple-tenant entrance without detracting from the other important addresses. The hierarchy, established at the multiple-tenant entrance by making it a focal point through more extensive lighting and other elements, helped organize the site and avoid bland repetition of the entry experiences.

Clear Circulation

While a complementary aesthetic is key to creating campus character, a corporate campus cannot achieve unification without efficient and clear pedestrian and vehicular circulation. At Reservoir Woods, the landscape architects redesigned the parking lots throughout the site to relate more closely to the individual entrances. In addition, more parking space was added adjacent to each building entrance for visitors and handicapped parking spots and new drop-off areas were created at each address to improve the arrival experience. For parking fields that had to be located farther from the building, path systems were designed to enhance the pedestrian experience and assist in way-finding. New lighting and clear site lines were also added to provide a safe pedestrian environment.

For Wyeth’s Cambridge campus, the master plan’s pedestrian circulation recommendation included:

• The reduction of vehicular pavements and reorganization of parking lots and roadways. The existing campus desire lines – the routes most often used by pedestrians – cut through parking lots, creating a higher potential for vehicular/pedestrian conflicts. The Wyeth master plan called for a reduction in parking lots and roadways and in their place, sidewalks were designed through landscaped areas using consistent materials. Using curb cuts, accessible ramps, and strategically sited crosswalks, designers created a visibly strong connection between buildings and a safer crossing.

• The addition of pedestrian-scale lighting, garden areas and site furniture. This provided an easily maneuverable and attractive site that encourages pedestrian circulation.

• The improvement of way-finding on campus. By relocating existing signage – including building identification and signage at exits and entrances – to more strategic locations, the site designers improved way-finding on campus, providing clear direction for pedestrians and vehicles and creating a strong connection between different site components.

Landscape architects can unify a corporate campus at any point during its life cycle. Unity can be established between drastically different buildings and sites through intelligent material selection and design. As the needs of corporations evolve and retail shops, fitness centers and other amenities continue to be popular additions to existing office parks, it is likely that more companies will expand their campuses. For expanding office parks, new construction and existing corporate campuses lacking uniformity, a comprehensive master plan can help create a cohesive campus and provide a clear picture of future renovations that will maintain and improve campus character.