Colgate University
In support of Colgate’s Third Century Initiative, MVVA has been a trusted partner in shaping a campus that honors its history while looking toward the future. MVVA’s work spans strategic planning and built projects, including the Upper Campus Stewardship Plan, Middle Campus Master Plan, Bicentennial Planting, and landscapes for the Residential Commons, Benton Hall, Bernstein Hall, Olin Hall, and most recently, Peter’s Glen. Planning and design efforts are continuing for Colgate’s Athletics and West Campuses, advancing the University’s vision for a connected and enduring landscape as it enters its next century.
Willow Path
Colgate’s campus sits in a glacial valley formed over thousands of years. When the University was founded in 1819, early buildings were sited for practicality and guided by the land’s contours. Over time, features like Oak Drive, Taylor Lake, and Willow Path became defining landmarks, linking generations through the drama and beauty of the campus topography.
Colgate University Upper Campus, 2017
Colgate University Upper Campus Landscape Stewardship Plan
Since 2016, MVVA has worked closely with University leadership to address contemporary pressures—including circulation, parking, infrastructure, ecology, and maintenance. Through detailed working papers and collaborative analysis, the team established clear goals and guiding principles.
In partnership with Robert A.M. Stern Architects, MVVA developed a framework that balances long-term stewardship with actionable design strategies. The plan articulates principles for campus identity, sets landscape standards, and identifies projects to enhance the Upper Campus. By reflecting on Colgate’s historic evolution while anticipating its next century, the plan guides ongoing care and future growth in ways that honor the University’s past while supporting its ambitions.
Building on the Upper Campus Stewardship Plan, MVVA’s Middle Campus Master Plan strengthens connections between upper and lower landscapes. The design embraces steep topography, reduces vehicle dominance, clarifies the pedestrian network, and integrates ecological systems as structural elements. The landscape acts as a connective thread, navigating slopes, managing site conditions, and providing spaces for study, gathering, and recreation that link previously separated areas. These interventions connect historic quadrangles, dining halls, and residences with the Dana Arts Center and other planned facilities, including a future Performing and Visual Arts Center.
Designed to work with the hydrology of the hillside
Designed to work with the steep slopes
An emerald necklace that connects new Middle Campus landscapes
By reflecting on Colgate’s historic evolution while envisioning its next century, the plan guides both the ongoing care of the campus and its future growth in a way that celebrates the university’s rich history and emerging ambitions.
As part of a comprehensive inventory of Colgate’s tree communities, MVVA assessed species diversity, overall health, root systems, and signs of pests or disease. Based on this analysis, campus-wide recommendations were developed to enhance tree canopy health, soil conditions, and overall site resilience.
Since 2018, nearly 1,300 trees have been planted across campus, including 200 on the Upper Campus for Colgate’s Bicentennial. Today, Colgate hosts approximately 4,000 trees across more than 130 species—a roughly 25% increase in canopy that strengthens sightlines, enhances seasonal variety, and expands biodiversity.
For the Residential Commons, MVVA transformed the central landscape between Jane Pinchin and Burke Halls into a vibrant campus gathering place. At its heart, the Buckeye Oval—framed by a double allée of flowering Yellow Buckeyes—continues Colgate’s tradition of defining iconic spaces through a single species: oaks mark Oak Drive, willows line Willow Path, and Yellow Buckeyes shape a memorable new quadrangle.
Terraces, accessible pathways, and meadows with fieldstone walls surround the quadrangle, connecting residences to historic quads while framing seasonal experiences and fostering social interaction. The Commons has become a beloved student gathering space, hosting informal events and the “Senior Sunset,” a tradition where graduating seniors reflect on their time at Colgate.
These collaborations harness the campus’s potential, addressing physical, ecological, and functional constraints through a carefully cultivated approach that allows landscapes to adapt, mature, and respond to the University’s evolving life. By bridging historic character with contemporary needs, MVVA ensures Colgate’s landscapes continue to support campus life, connect precincts, and enrich the student experience.
