Entrance Landscape Renovations to Haley Academic Center at Wachusett Community College

As part of the Mount Wachusett Community College’s 21st century facilities upgrades, the College sought to replace their 1970’s era brutalist entry plaza with a more welcoming arrival experience which would remake the image of the campus and provide for universal access. To this end, the existing drop-off was raised and blended into the surrounding landscape to mitigate the need for steps or ramps and to provide a more visually open entry. In keeping with the College’s sustainability values, a mosaic of native drought-tolerant plantings and boulders recalls the qualities of the area’s indigenous landscape. Completing the space, under-lit bench seating and bollard lighting provides for informal social gathering and spill out space for evening productions of the adjacent campus theater.