Faculty, staff and students are invited to hear and voice their opinions about design guidelines for a master plan for the Parnassus Heights campus.
The campus community can comment on the plans for Parnassus Heights at a meeting on Friday, Sept. 29 at noon in the School of Nursing room N 217.
A committee representing staff from Campus Planning, Medical Center Design and Construction, Facilities Management & Campus Projects, Campus Life Services and other departments has convened since July 2005 to develop guidelines for a major plan to redesign the Parnassus Heights campus.
Starting in November, UCSF will begin the second phase of the project with the intent to develop a campus master plan in anticipation of future building demolitions and construction.
One of the primary goals of the master plan is to use a variety of features, such as trees and flowers, colorful banners and perhaps public art, to convey a unified and obvious destination point along Parnassus Avenue. Currently, the mix of building architecture, landscaping, walkways and open spaces along the busy street that dissects UCSF's flagship campus does not reflect a common or complementary University identity.
Thus, developing a stronger sense of arrival at the campus by improving major and minor gateways is on the list of Parnassus design goals and guidelines, says Judy DeReus, project manager for Campus Planning.
Among the other Parnassus design goals and guidelines are:
- • Create an attractive, pedestrian-friendly
campus core on Parnassus Avenue between Hillway and Third avenues.
- • Unify and enhance the remainder of Parnassus
Avenue by developing a street tree-planting plan that creates a more continuous
or formal appearance along the street.
- • Treat the Irving Street entrance area as a
primary campus gateway by creating a "mini-plaza" with a new building canopy
at the pedestrian entrance, and by cleaning and painting the garage façade.
- • Standardize site furnishings, lighting, signage
and other landscape features, selecting a theme that is compatible with existing
buildings.
- • Enhance lighting in high-priority areas of
the campus and install new fixtures.
- • Improve vehicle circulation and pedestrian
safety, and minimize the impact of parked, loading and unloading vehicles
along Parnassus Avenue.
- • Enhance the experience and comfort of pedestrians
along major routes of travel, and improve signage and way-finding.
Input Sought
The guidelines were shaped by the Parnassus design committee with the input of 660 people who responded to a Campus Planning survey conducted in February and March 2005.
"The intent of the survey was to better understand how students, staff, visitors and neighbors perceive the aesthetic quality of the campus, identify issues and obtain suggestions for desired improvements," DeReus says.
A common theme that emerged among survey respondents was a call for more and better open space. People want more seating areas, tables and chairs in Saunders Court and some said it should be more accessible from and to Parnassus Avenue. With that in mind, another goal is to make Saunders Court more usable, enjoyable and attractive, and to create a new courtyard gateway with increased accessibility and security. Another open space goal is to develop a new plaza when UC Hall and other seismically vulnerable buildings are demolished as planned.
Now the committee is ready to hear from the campus community again on the proposed guidelines and plan for Parnassus Heights. Neighbors recently had an opportunity to share their thoughts on the master plan last Wednesday.
"We had a good turnout for the neighborhood community meeting held Wednesday night at the Faculty/Alumni House," DeReus reports. "About 30 people came and we received a lot of positive feedback."
DeReus says all the feedback from the campus and larger community will help further refine the guidelines.
UCSF is responding to a call by the UC Regents to come up with a long-term vision for each campus. Developing this master plan will set the stage for the next long-range development plan for the Parnassus campus and UCSF as a whole.
Realizing the vision set forth in the guidelines and goals will require a huge financial investment as well as establishing priorities and funding strategies.
Links:
Parnassus Campus Planning Begins to Address Myriad Issues
Reinventing and Reinvesting in the Parnassus Heights Campus
