Completion: 1997
Size: 104 acres
Cost: N/A

Ayers/Saint/Gross was engaged as a prime consultant to provide Campus Master Planning services to this small liberal arts school in Chestertown, on Maryland’s Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. The histories of the school and the region dominate the character and environment of the 215-year-old campus.

The characteristics of a small historical school in a rural town setting are a significant factor to the pace, scale and objectives of the Master Plan. The grounds are defined by original buildings and mature hardwood trees. Some recent facilities development occurred without consideration to the overall campus composition. The results are open spaces in the central campus that lack clear articulation of form or detail It is an objective of the new an to restore, by the placement of landscaping and new facilities, the patterns of the original campus.

The campus plan proposes the following:

• Improve cohesiveness of the campus environment through measures taken to link and define open spaces.
  
• Increase unification and definition of precincts with landscape plantings.
• Use plantings indigenous to the region to simplify a complex variety of materials.
  
• Limit use of architectural and site materials and equipment throughout the campus to palettes, patterns and proportions deemed successful in existing applications.
  
• Improve connections between buildings through removal or calming of automobile traffic and landscaping of parking facilities.

The campus planning process was prompted by new facilities’ needs associated with strategic initiatives and an anticipated student population increase of 35 percent over the ensuing three- to five years. Ninety percent of all students now live on campus and this proportion is not expected to change. Planning concepts and proposed development seek to reinforce the historic architecture and landscape character of the existing campus and Chestertown. Anticipated program development includes new residential halls, a renovated and expanded dining facility, student recreation facilities and expanded parking facilities.

The historic facilities of the Washington College campus and Chestertown strongly influence nearly all land development decisions. Recommendations for restoration and care of existing facilities is a significant component of the plan. New facilities will likely follow precedents established for historic buildings in their proportioning of massing, fenestration and materials.