FALL 2021 A Campus in Need of Rejuvenation and REGENERATION

To continue meeting these needs, the campus, which now is a year-round program, has far outgrown the original mid 1900’s cabins. Originally built as summer cabins, they are now used not only for sleeping accommodations but also as make-shift office space, classroom instruction, dining facilities and even maintenance storerooms.

The MFC and U of I team recognized that the need for new facilities should be accomplished through a new masterplan and architecture that enhances and echos the vision and mission of the program. The Living Building Challenge was identified as an ideal way to articulate what future buildings could be like on campus as examples of deep-rooted environmental stewardship.

In the late summer of 2022, McLennan Design and the U of I team began collaborating together on how the MFC can strategically grow into the future of natural resources research and education as a campus, and to begin developing designs for a new Dining Hall and Teaching and Learning Center. Our team was able to visit the site on several occasions, experiencing firsthand the beauty of the landscape and seeing in person the K-12 programming. From an in-depth planning process, we worked to develop a new masterplan for the campus and concept designs for a dining hall, classroom buildings and maintenance building.

While the design will continue to evolve as we begin Schematic Design in May, we thought we’d share the current concept renderings that showcase the future Living Buildings in Idaho –likely the first in the State!

Plans for the renovation and new facilities create a safe, sustainable, and inspiring landscape for learning. The transformed McCall Field Campus will be a teaching campus, that connects theory to practice, forest to lake, and people to place.

It’s a pleasure working with McLennan Design! They simultaneously helped stretch our understanding of the Living Building Challenge, while making it achievable for our campus, and more importantly for our students who will for generations know what it means to build sustainably.