Gettysburg College

Gettysburg, PA
Gettysburg College

Gettysburg’s 200-acre suburban campus already included 51 buildings totaling 1.2 million square feet when they asked Helpern Architects: How well will our current facilities enable us to meet our short-term needs and long-range strategic goals? What do we need to plan for?

We evaluated existing space and, through a highly participatory process, gathered information about the “campus experience” and future pressures on academic, residential, college life, and administrative facilities. This enabled us to identify and prioritize projects along a 10-year master plan that would also recalibrate the balance between natural and built spaces and place future developments like a science complex, residential expansion, and new fitness facilities. To make it easier for Gettysburg to make decisions, we developed short- and long-term planning diagrams and program statements, along with construction cost estimates.

We also did program studies for the science complex and for on- and off-campus housing. As a separate assignment, we considered how best to use and then renovate Pennsylvania Hall, the oldest building on campus and home to Gettysburg’s senior administration.

Drawing: Helpern Architects