Cooper Robertson Tapped for U of Maryland’s Master Plan

By Eric Althoff

COLLEGE PARK, Md.—Architecture firm Cooper Robertson was selected by the University of Maryland as the lead developer for the school’s facilities master plan.

The three-phased project aims to realize a comprehensive framework for Maryland as the university continues to develop in the 21st century, mostly notably at its main campus in College Park, located on the outskirts of Washington, D.C. As part of its work, Cooper Robertson will be tasked with identifying areas in and around College Park where the university can reasonably afford to expand its existing campus. Such work will also entail examining transportability options in the increasingly busy capital region—which has been beset by lengthy delays over the long-gestating Purple Line of the area’s Metro rail. Cooper Robertson will also look at ways to increase the school’s renewable and sustainable energy options.

“The development of this facilities master plan builds on the University of Maryland’s role as an ambitious, forward-looking, and value-driven academic institution,” Cooper Robertson partner Mike Aziz, a leader of the master planning effort and a University of Maryland alum, said recently of his company’s significant work for his alma mater.

In addition to its work at Maryland, Cooper Robertson has undertaken data-driven planning for such other universities as Georgia State, George Washington University, the University of Delaware, North Carolina State, Ohio State, the University of North Carolina, Cal Tech, Yale, Harvard, Georgetown and the Duke University Medical School.