Campus Master Plan Update
Florida Atlantic University, which opened in 1964, is an ambitious institution with high expectations to be an academic leader and research powerhouse. Aptly, the Boca Raton campus was born out of a WWII Army Air Base responsible for the first application of radar technology that helped lead the Allies to victory.
The Campus Master Plan focuses on four principal land use strategies:
- Academic Excellence – strengthen the campus core with infill projects that promote interdisciplinary collaboration and are connected along the iconic “Breezeway” that is the campus heart.
- Expand the Residential Campus – as FAU seeks to educate the whole individual, creating a comprehensive living/learning environment is accomplished through mixed-use housing villages connected to key student life facilities in the campus core.
- Grow Research – By strengthening the Research Park at Florida Atlantic University, academic research will have a place to grow into translational research and product development in designated areas of excellence.
- Leverage Partnership Opportunities – In an era of greater institutional responsibility for program and project funding, FAU will utilize land holdings at gateway locations to create public/private partnerships of benefit to campus and the larger community.
The campus framework will connect these four focus areas by a sustainably-focused Greenway – a remnant of one of the original airbase landing strips, and by building on the existing open space network. Focused “Centers” in each area will provide spaces for gathering and to showcase University activities and accomplishments. Enhanced conservation areas and natural buffers at the campus edge will define FAU as a natural oasis of cutting-edge research. Gateway development will provide outreach amenities to the Boca Raton community while bringing needed social and cultural amenities to campus.
