Bridgewater College Landscape Master Plan

At Bridgewater College, Derck & Edson was challenged to take a nice campus and create a more memorable physical presence. Our work included addressing:

• overall circulation patterns for pedestrians and vehicles as well as walkway hierarchy and condition
• landscape selection and maintenance issues
• a hierarchy of exterior social spaces
• outdoor gathering spaces

We also worked to introduce some “WOW” elements to delight the administration, students, and alumni. We worked directly with the College to provide assistance on more specific design projects, ranging in size and complexity from conceptual site designs for major campus plazas to individual building entrance design, campus-wide planting rejuvenation, and site furnishings selections.

Several of our key recommendations in the landscape master plan focused on sustainability goals: reducing extensive lawn mowing in non-formal areas of campus, returning large portions of campus lawn to prairie meadow and natural grasslands where appropriate, introducing a predominantly native plant palette to the campus landscape, and proposing the restoration of an existing stream corridor to its natural form and function.

Throughout our continuing relationship with Bridgewater College, our process has involved actively collaborating with the College president, the grounds manager and facilities staff, and vested faculty and students to develop goals and objectives that meet the campus community’s needs, while creating memorable spaces and landscapes that are sustainable, innovative, achievable, and appealing to a wide range of stakeholders.