Trinity Students Develop Campus Design Proposals Focused on Accessibility and Community Spaces

This semester, learning didn't stay in the classroom. It stretched across pathways, gathered beneath shady live oak trees, and lingered in the overlooked corners of campus.

In collaboration with Trinity University's Facility Services, Cameron Bishop '27, Maddie Mueller '26, and Gabe Parr '27 were tasked with problem-solving one of three areas: Transportation/pedestrian walkways, garbage disposals, or cat facilities.

Finding solutions meant counting bricks on the back of Parker Chapel, while also thinking through budgets, materials, and the weight of history behind every design choice. What seemed at first like an exercise in building models became something deeper: a way to understand how spaces shape experience and how thoughtful design can make a community more inclusive and accessible.

"The class has taught me to look at the abstract of our campus-what could be changed and what is so lovely about this place," Parr said. "How this campus is not only home to us students, but to the people of the community and the nature that it is made of."

The students chose to focus on the road behind Parker Chapel, developing a conceptual redesign that imagined the space as a more pedestrian-centered corridor. The proposal redirects cars, separates pedestrian and golf-cart traffic, and reclaims space for people. Their proposal envisioned the transitional space as a place where students could pause, sit beneath trees, and gather. Wood slats would soften the environment, while permeable pavers would connect the design to the surrounding landscape.

Mueller said the project showed how many considerations shape a single campus proposal. "I took away that a lot more than just designing a new place goes into projects like this," she said. "You have to think about the history of the campus and what materials to use and, most of the time, factor in a budget."

Bishop said the experience also expanded her understanding of architecture beyond the classroom. "This experience has been a great opportunity to dip my toe into different design aspects of architecture, in which we are encouraged to explore our creativity while keeping in mind logical considerations," she said. "The class has been great in providing me with a unique experience that otherwise isn't offered in completing the architectural studies minor."