Inspiring Thinkers, Leaders, and Professionals
The physical campus plays a critical role in shaping the student experience, impacting everything from learning outcomes to recruitment, retention, and overall student success. It’s essential to partner with a firm that understands higher education design and the strategic priorities driving today’s colleges and universities.
At BHDP, we bring multi-disciplinary expertise in integrated strategic planning and campus master planning, combined with an extensive portfolio in the design of academic, scientific, medical education, student life, sports and recreation, and residence life spaces. Our work is rooted in a commitment to improving the student experience and advancing the mission, strategy, and prosperity of colleges and universities nationwide.
By partnering with us, you gain a team that leverages our collective ambition, expertise in the business of higher education, and design process to craft inspiring places and experiences that enhance campus life and drive your institution’s long-term success.
BHDP’s Approach to Higher Education Design
Working closely with our clients, every BHDP team employs our iterative design process to extract an intimate understanding of their needs so that their campus plan, academic strategy, brand equities, processes, challenges, expectations, and goals are carefully explored and accurately identified prior to the start of any design work.
Other firms may be satisfied with designing to a snapshot in time, but we will know where your college or university will be moving, so our designs can help you keep pace with the changing landscape you will be facing. This collaborative, transparent approach guarantees a well-defined, shared vision for every project.
Our extensive higher education architecture portfolio is a testament to our commitment and capability to deliver inspirational places and experiences on college and university campuses.
Our Mission to Inspire Students
Our Higher Education Design Expertise in Action
We partner with colleges and universities to create spaces that support institutional growth, prosperity, and student success. Our higher education planning and design portfolio spans a wide range of higher education facility types and needs, including:
Campus Master Planning and Integrated Strategic Plans
By integrating services like academic program assessments, campus space utilization analysis, and strategic campus planning, we align design with institutional goals. Our collaborative approach ensures that every decision supports the institution’s mission, fostering a campus environment that can evolve alongside future needs and growth.
Research and Science Teaching Facilities
Recognized across the industry as “laboratory architects,” BHDP brings over 60 years of experience designing high-performance science environments. We understand the technical requirements for both teaching and research spaces and translate them into innovative facilities that support scientific discovery and academic excellence in higher education.
Health Science and Medical Education Facilities
From nursing and simulation labs to immersive clinical training environments, our team delivers future-forward health science facilities. These include advanced spaces equipped with augmented and virtual reality technology to train the next generation of healthcare professionals.
Learning Environments and Libraries
Our designers study how learning occurs inside and outside the conventional classroom. We design flexible, collaborative learning spaces that accommodate a variety of teaching methodologies. Learning spaces where we offer additional, specialized expertise include classrooms and auditoriums, computer laboratories, group study and collaborative learning spaces, and libraries and learning commons.
Student Centers, Campus Dining, and Administrative Spaces
We bring deep knowledge and experience in planning and designing student centers and related facilities that enhance the quality of learning, social life, and campus experience for students, faculty, staff, and visitors. These projects often include a wide array of spaces such as student affairs and student government offices, staff offices, auditoriums, event spaces, and multi-purpose rooms. Our team’s insight into trends shaping student-centered design ensures these buildings serve as vibrant, inclusive community anchors.
Sports and Recreation Centers
Student recreation centers and athletics facilities are powerful tools for enhancing campus engagement, wellness, and recruitment. Our experience includes new construction, renovations, and feasibility studies for athletic and recreational spaces, including field houses and indoor practice facilities.
Student Housing
Our experience in the design of both new and renovated student housing encompasses a wide range of building types and residential life models. These projects typically include the development of a detailed Program of Requirements, assessment of existing conditions, and resolution of building code and ADA compliance issues. We create living environments that promote community, well-being, and academic success, aligned with the evolving expectations of today’s students and the institution's strategic goals.
Hear First-Hand from Students
The building captured exactly what our brand is. It’s amazing how that was an intentional goal of this project, and it came together.
Tom Zechman, Assistant Dean of the College of Engineering, Ohio Northern University
Insights
What We're Saying About the Future of Higher Education
Our People
Leaders in Higher Education Design
Kevin Denman
Senior Project Manager, Associate
Some of Our Long-Standing Partnerships
50
States in which BHDP has Registered Architects
70+
Years of Higher Education design experience
#36
2024 BD+C's University Giants Report
