Campus Master Plan
Since its last master plan update, Virginia Tech had undergone significant changes that resulted in new goals for growth and development. Home to approximately 30,000 students on nearly 3,000 acres amid Virginia’s Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains, Virginia Tech is Virginia’s largest university, striving to move into the top 30 ranking of research institutions nationwide.
Hanbury evaluated the implications of the school's new Strategic Plan, benchmarking against 10 peer institutions and meeting with stakeholders not only from Virginia Tech, but with city planning officials and the local public. Land use, cost and life-cycle financial modeling, and utilities and infrastructure planning were all considerations, as was parking and transit. Sustainability was also a top priority. The Plan created an environmental corridor along Stroubles Creek, linking the University’s critical environmental and cultural assets together in a no-build zone called the “Environmental and Cultural Greenway.” In addition, flood plain assessments resulted in the reduction of surface parking... and room for development of new buildings and green spaces within the academic core.
Initially, the campus will build out the Life Science District from the Agriculture Quad to the Veterinary Medicine Complex. Ultimately, the golf course, expansion of the airport and the Corporate Research Center to the north will be undertaken. The campus master plan also integrates with the Town of Blacksburg’s Comprehensive Plan, which proposed the continued revitalization of downtown by enhancing arts and entertainment venues adjacent to campus.
Hanbury evaluated the implications of the school's new Strategic Plan, benchmarking against 10 peer institutions and meeting with stakeholders not only from Virginia Tech, but with city planning officials and the local public. Land use, cost and life-cycle financial modeling, and utilities and infrastructure planning were all considerations, as was parking and transit. Sustainability was also a top priority. The Plan created an environmental corridor along Stroubles Creek, linking the University’s critical environmental and cultural assets together in a no-build zone called the “Environmental and Cultural Greenway.” In addition, flood plain assessments resulted in the reduction of surface parking... and room for development of new buildings and green spaces within the academic core.
Initially, the campus will build out the Life Science District from the Agriculture Quad to the Veterinary Medicine Complex. Ultimately, the golf course, expansion of the airport and the Corporate Research Center to the north will be undertaken. The campus master plan also integrates with the Town of Blacksburg’s Comprehensive Plan, which proposed the continued revitalization of downtown by enhancing arts and entertainment venues adjacent to campus.
In 2005, Virginia Tech's research ranking was 55; as of 2014, their ranking had moved up to 38 - a significant movement toward one of the Strategic Plan's goals.
“Without the aspirations of the Strategic Plan, without something to show donors or researchers or people who have grants available... you’re not going to get [what you want]. Now we have a land use, and we know how to make it fit.”
– Kurt Krause, Former Vice President for Business Affairs
