PROJECT SPOTLIGHT: Dormitory Authority of the State of New York SUNY Purchase Courtyard Rehabilitation

SUNY Purchase’s “Quad” is an outdoor green gathering space shaped by the surrounding four campus residence halls which serve roughly 1,200 students. H2M provided landscape architecture, electrical engineering, and construction administration services for a multi-phased rehabilitation of the Quad.

The first phase of the rehabilitation involved the installation of accessible sidewalks which resolved significant grade changes and improved access to previously-unpaved pathways. The second phase involved the creation of four new student gathering spaces based off those new sidewalks, each with a different theme and function.

The first of the four spaces features a performance stage, located to take advantage of the site topography. The space has ample seating for spectators as well as sound and electrical hookups to help bring students’ theatrical production to the next level. The second space is a meditation garden at which a red maple tree sits as the centerpiece. A seating ring made of concrete and granite coping surrounds the tree. The circular space is grounded by porous grass pavers and seating buffered by ornamental grasses and house up-light fixtures that accentuate the tree at night.

The third space is a small patio located between the performance stage and meditation garden. This patio features movable seating and mixed plantings to properly enclose the space. Finally, the fourth space is home to a plaza with two bike racks that can store up to 22 bicycles. Much like the patio, this space is also enclosed by plantings.

All four spaces are wheelchair accessible and feature decorative permeable paving, stone seating, rain gardens, lush plantings, and electric charging stations. Other major renovations to the Quad include the establishment of four rain gardens around field drains as well as the integration of a 26-foot-wide fire lane.