Capital Development and Strategic Vision Plan

Learning / Higher Education

Capital Development and Strategic Vision Plan

Bellingham, WA

Western Washington University

Awards

2025 Merit Award, Excellence in Planning for an Existing Campus, SCUP Excellence Awards

Western Washington University has partnered with NAC to craft a 20-year plan that will shape the future of the campus. The WWU Capital Development and Strategic Vision Plan is a mission-driven and practical roadmap for the near- and long-term development of 3.5 million square feet of academic, student, and residential spaces across the 215-acre campus. As a transparent decision-making framework, the plan outlines a sequence of immediate priorities and programmatic needs, preserves flexibility for multiple futures, and introduces holistic strategies for fostering belonging, retention, recruitment, and vitality.

The WWU campus is nestled in a valley between two forested ridges in Bellingham, Washington, with striking views of Bellingham Bay to the north and the Chuckanut Mountains to the south. NAC’s plan strengthens sense of place, leveraging the site’s stunning landscape and rich cultural heritage by finding ways to maximize views and the use of existing architecture. As a tangible acknowledgment of the campus' presence on the traditional ancestral lands of the Coast Salish peoples, the plan integrates local artwork, tribal language, and cultural landmarks into the very fabric of the campus.

A reimagined network of open spaces reinforce the campus’s linear north–south spine along existing circulation patterns while introducing more porousness to buildings along the ground plane at key sites such as Red Square and Fisher Fountain. The central corridor moves fluidly between indoor and outdoor spaces, punctuated by both communal gathering areas and quiet niches for study and reflection.

The plan took careful stock of WWU’s existing assets—a detailed facility assessment informed long-term building strategies, determining when renovation is feasible and when replacement makes more sense. This assessment coordinated with the university’s sustainability initiatives including the new campus-wide geo-exchange heating system, as well as introducing policy recommendations for embodied carbon reduction and resilient construction practices.

Community engagement played a central role in the development of this strategic vision. NAC's team gathered insights from nearly fifty campus groups and hundreds of community members through pop-up stations, focus group meetings with historically underrepresented student populations, and campus surveys developed in partnership with WWU urban planning students. Close collaboration with this diverse community ensured that the final vision integrates the stories, experiences, and character of those who call the campus home.

Click here to view the WWU Capital Development and Strategic Visioning Plan report