October 10, 2016

UW's main campus would get taller and denser by 2028 under new plan

Image courtesy of Sasaki Associates [enlarge]

The purple areas show potential new development. The brown is existing, and the bright green areas are open space.

The University of Washington released a draft of its new master plan that calls for adding up to 6 million square feet of space on campus over the next 10 years and much taller buildings in some areas.

The plan will guide development on the 640-acre campus through 2028.

It proposes buildings up to 240 feet on West Campus, where the tallest is now 105 feet. There would be more buildings up to 240 feet on South Campus, where now only Muhlenberg Tower is that height. On East Campus there would be buildings up to 130 feet; today the tallest there is 80 feet. There would be no height increase on Central Campus from the current 105 feet.

New parks and open space are included in the plan, as well as a new land bridge and overpass.

“We've written a plan that can evolve with the university's needs and a plan that is beneficial not only to the people who come to the university on a daily basis but to the University District community and the broader region,” said Theresa Doherty, senior project director for the plan. She co-led the project with Rebecca Barnes, who is the university architect and associate vice provost for capital and campus planning.

The UW said it must accommodate a projected 20 percent increase in full-time students from 2014 to 2028, when it expects to have 52,400 students, and more faculty and staff.

New development would also help UW address future transportation needs, and provide more space for teaching, research and collaboration.

The goal is to create a more urban campus, with more transparent buildings and mixed-use spaces. The UW also wants better connections between the campus and surrounding streets, more open space and better paths to the water.

The university said the biggest changes would be in the West Campus, which has research, retail, student housing, cultural programs and transit.

A total of 3 million square feet is planned there, including an “innovation district,” with buildings aimed at fostering collaboration between different disciplines and companies, nonprofits and government, said Doherty.

In that area, the university would add five acres to a two-acre park the city plans along Portage Bay. The park would stretch from Northeast Pacific Street, along Brooklyn Avenue Northeast and down to the bay.

South Campus has health sciences buildings, including the medical center, and the College of the Environment along the waterfront.

Doherty said the buildings make it difficult to get from the upper campus to the water. Several pathways to Portage Bay are proposed, as well as a waterfront trail to the SR 520 Bridge and a better pedestrian overpass from Burke-Gilman Trail to the health sciences buildings. There would also be a shared campus green, courtyards and terraces.

The plan also proposes adding 1.35 million square feet to the health sciences complex in phases.

The Central Campus, with Husky Union Building and historical academic buildings, would get 900,000 square feet of new development, mostly on the east edge.

Also, a new land bridge from Mason Road by Fluke Hall over the Burke-Gilman Trail and Northeast Montlake Boulevard would be built.

The East Campus is home to athletics and recreational facilities as well as parking. It would have 750,000 square feet of new development, likely on the E-1 parking lot. Academic, research and potential partnership spaces are proposed.

By 2018, the university expects to have developed almost all of the 3 million square feet of space that was proposed in the last plan, which was approved in 2003.

The proposed new master plan identifies 85 potential development sites with a maximum of 12.9 million square feet campus-wide. But it calls for developing only 6 million square feet of that.

“There's no guarantees that we're going to build the six million,” said Doherty, because construction depends on funding.

A lot of the new space would go on parking lots or involve demolishing smaller building that don't meet current needs or maximize their sites, she said.

Doherty said there has been some push-back in parts of the community about the proposed height increases, but she said the UW needs to build higher to preserve its valuable land and create more open space.

“We're a landlocked university, and we need to make the best use of the property that we have,” she said.

Over 57,000 people commute to campus daily, but only 20 percent of them drive, according to Doherty, who said the UW offers students, faculty and staff discounted transit passes.

In an agreement with the city, the university capped campus parking spaces at 12,300, but only uses about half, she said. Under the draft master plan, she said more parking could be built but would not exceed the cap.

The Campus Master Plan Advisory Committee and Working Group of UW staff appointed by the university president consulted with the city of Seattle and stakeholders, including community groups, on the draft master plan.

Doherty said the plan is separate from a major rezone in the University District proposed by Seattle Mayor Ed Murray.

The final master plan is expected to go to the Board of Regents in 2018, and to Seattle City Council in late 2017 or early 2018, Doherty said. Both must approve before it can be implemented.