Experience
Over the past 30 years, Marshall Craft has successfully delivered more than 900 higher education projects spanning every area of campus. We integrate our experience and technical knowledge, leveraging expertise of the owner, contractor, and project team to produce award winning design. We lead a data-driven, collaborative approach incorporating the latest trends in teaching pedagogy and technology to deliver superior, sustainable and long-lasting work.
Please contact education sector lead John Morrel at education@mca.design with questions about our higher education work or to start your next project.
Master Planning
The Master Plan is a unique opportunity for academic institutions to take stock of their current circumstances and make informed decisions about their future. Marshall Craft’s education sector leaders have the experience to partner with higher education clients on truly transformative, holistic master plans, taking into account facilities and space assessments, academic planning, technology infrastructure, community needs, advancements in curriculum design, and demographic trends.
Academic Facilities
The core of the academic campus revolves around effective learning and study spaces that support the curriculum and instructional pedagogy. From forward-looking, flexible, and technology-rich classrooms to highly specialized spaces such as those for athletics, the performing arts, and sciences, Marshall Craft enjoys the opportunity to work with our higher education clients to forge architectural spaces that support your evolving mission. We supplement traditional academic classrooms and labs with spaces that encourage socialization, student-faculty interaction, and collaboration outside the classroom.
Science and Research
Spanning academic teaching laboratories to state-of-the-art bio-containment laboratories for some of the nation’s leading medical institutions, MCA supports the academic teaching and research missions of engineering and the sciences. From planning and design expertise in laboratory safety, animal research, and equipment integration to meeting grant requirements for federally-funded initiatives such as through the National Science Foundation or the National Institutes of Health, MCA professionals have the bases covered. Being one of the largest campus energy users, laboratory facilities are approached with special attention to energy efficiency and sustainability, and MCA has been a corporate supporter of the Department of Energy’s Labs21 initiative for many years. Several of our science facilities have reached high sustainability objectives, including USGBC certifications up to LEED Platinum.
Student Life
Student social and living experiences define the heart and soul of the higher education campus, and therefore facilities that support rich and meaningful student life make an indelible impact on campus culture. Including housing accommodations, student activity and recreation centers, and dining options, the spaces and places where students spend their ‘down time’ can forge an institutional identity lasting generations. MCA is pleased to have positively impacted the learning/living experience of many campus communities with nationally award-winning and published student life facilities.
Athletics
Regardless of the competitive level of the institution, campus athletics serve as an important ingredient in the complex makeup of the modern higher education institution. Participation in athletics programs fosters institutional identity and pride through shared experience, is an important ingredient in alumni relations, and is a critical aspect for recruitment. Today’s scholar/athletes have increasingly higher expectations for the institution’s commitment to the athletics experience, and campuses often struggle to meet these expectations among the multitude of campus needs. MCA has successfully completed projects at every level of collegiate athletics and works with the institution and athletic staff to find solutions that are appropriate to the institutional mission, budget and aspirations. We also have a number of highly specialized strategic partners that we collaborate with for specific aspects of collegiate athletics that require unique skills, experience and benchmarking.
Infrastructure
The modern academic campus is an immensely complex entity requiring a broad array of facilities and infrastructure to function. From administrative accommodations to maintenance facilities, central utility buildings and power substations, the scope of campus support needs is both broad and deep. MCA supports of our clients’ campus building, infrastructure and maintenance design needs for a vast array of project types and scales, from utility infrastructure work and minor building envelope remediation design through large capital projects.