Farmville, VA

Longwood University is a liberal arts school set in the center of the small Virginia town of Farmville. Previously, the campus was bisected by the town street grid. Occupying the center of campus, Pine Street divided the campus. Brock Commons was conceived of as a means of transforming this central spine into the heart of the campus. This goal was accomplished by removing the street and creating in its place a pedestrian zone composed of a series of linked open spaces with plazas and lawns of different sizes and characters.

The site for Brock Commons is roughly nine acres, and has rolling topography varying as much as twenty feet in elevation. The new open space unifies the north and south, east and west. The closure of the street to traffic improves the safety of the campus for pedestrians, allows full accessibility of all of the campus buildings for all users, and provides an outdoor, physical embodiment of the collegiate community.

The series of linked open spaces that Brock Commons creates accommodates a wide range of activities, from college events and outdoor classes to student recreation and informal gathering. The Lankford Plaza provides a gathering space between the dining hall and the student union, and is centered on a memorial reflecting pool. The Student Life Plaza lies to the south, and replaces the existing intersection of Pine and Redford. This plaza links the existing entry levels of the surrounding student life buildings and forms a central, ceremonial gathering space. The plaza is formed by broad steps that surround this space on three sides. Space for parking is provided below the level of the plaza. This parking structure is rectangular in shape, is sized to accommodate 145 cars within the structure, and is accessed from two sides. Above the parking garage east entry is the Presidents Pavilion. It is an open, roofed structure that serves as the focal point of the Student Life Plaza. Flanking pavilions anchor the wester
n edge of the Student Life Plaza. A new Entrance Court is located east of Lankford Plaza at the level of the parking garage, and serves as the main symbolic entry to the campus. All of the new structures match the historic character of the north campus buildings, using colonnades, brick cladding and pre-cast stone. Stone on the west face of the Presidents Pavilion includes the names of past college presidents and major donors.

Trees, lawn, plaza and pathways form the core of the landscape of Brock Commons. Two north south paths connect the Commons from the north to the south, with trees at the edge of the paths and lawn in the center. The various plazas punctuate this path system at critical junctures along the length of the commons.

The Lawn is edged with flowering trees and benches, while a variety of canopy trees float through the central open space. Seasonal bulbs form a garland that runs the length of the lawn, and a line of hedge defines the Lawn’s west edge. Another grove of canopy trees creates the lower Entrance Plaza, with planted beds at their base.

Phase One is the centerpiece of Brock Commons and has created the central core of the project. Phase Two will extend the build-out of the project to the north and south.

ASG was the design architect and campus planner for this project. Betsy Boykin, Director of the ASG Landscape Studio was employed by Mahan Rykiel Landscape Architects, and subsequently joined ASG.

Completion: 2003
Size: 3 City Blocks
Cost: $6,750,000