The Office of Campus Design & Planning partners with the university's Facilities Department and Real Estate Development team to steward Gallaudet University's physical assets. Housed within the Office of Administration unit of Gallaudet University's Administration & Finance Division, Campus Design & Planning is responsible for campus master planning, design and construction of new campus buildings, historic preservation, major renovations, campus improvements and space utilization.

The Gallaudet University Campus is a beautiful and historic place. The original campus, designed by Fredrick Law Olmsted in 1866, is identified as a Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places. Today, the ninety-nine acre campus consists of over 2.5 million square feet of academic, residential and support buildings, and includes the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center. In support of Gallaudet University's mission to "ensure the intellectual and professional advancement of deaf and hard of hearing individuals," long-term stewardship of the campus will ensure the campus setting is responsive and expressive of the rich relationship between deaf and hard of hearing experiences and the built environment—an emerging approach to architecture and planning developed at Gallaudet known as DeafSpace.

Gallaudet University established the Office of Campus Design and Planning in 2009 to guide the future development of campus grounds and buildings with an inclusive and integrated approach. Thoughtful stewardship and campus development is implemented through innovative partnerships with campus and community stakeholders often with the assistance of respected design and construction professionals. A full range of design and planning services as well as campus design standards are provided to the Gallaudet community to ensure that physical assets support program needs within a campus setting expressive of the historic legacy while building a sustainable campus of the future as a model.

Banner Image Courtesy of Gallaudet University Archives