University of Connecticut, Mansfield Road and Fairfield Road

Storrs, Connecticut

Firm

Pressley Associates, Landscape Architects

Client

University of Connecticut

Total Cost

$6,000,000

Completion Date

09/1999

The architect began by transforming the 7.7-acre Fairfield Road into a pedestrian-friendly corridor that connects the library, student union, business school, pharmaceutical school, the Co-op and residence halls. Mansfield Road was transformed into a bus way and pedestrian corridor that services classrooms on campus and extends the curvilinear feel farther out from Fairfield Road.
High school seniors typically make their decisions on whether to attend a school within 60 seconds of arriving on a college campus. The University of Connecticut campus now communicates an image in keeping with the positive academic experience it provides.
Before renovation, Fairfield Road had double-stacked parking on each side. Before the landscape improvements, this pavement was a critical path that led students, visitors and faculty to the core of the campus—the library, student union, classrooms, the co-op and residence halls. Today Fairfield Road is a warm, pedestrian-friendly curvilinear walk, with various trees that create an inviting atmosphere.
Mansfield Road was a long narrow pedestrian passageway with rectilinear green space on either side that created a narrow feeling. Now a soft, curvilinear path accommodates the pedestrians and shuttle buses winding through the linear spaces. The path creates an illusion of a much wider, park-like space overlooking the rolling hills of the city.

$4.5 million, Fairfield Road; $1.5 million, Mansfield Road