Upper Science Hill Development at Yale University

“The primary object is to make the outward appearance and surroundings of the buildings an education for those who work and study in them. Surely the training of the eye to daily settings both beautiful and fit is as large a part of education as is the regular academic routine.”

           – Beatrix Farrand, Landscape Gardening at Yale

MNLA is leading the landscape design of 11 acres for the new Upper Science Hill Development (USHD) at Yale University, an intellectual hub and world-class environment for quantum science, engineering, and materials initiatives and one of Yale’s largest and most complex projects ever undertaken. The landscape design knits seamlessly into the Science Hill neighborhood and contextual framework, while simultaneously celebrating Yale's landscape legacy and contributing to the University’s landscape performance and ambitious sustainability goals for the future.

A new quad, courtyard and park-like gateway will transform Science Hill’s campus fabric into a welcoming, publicly accessible series of landscape spaces that restore circulation and movement for pedestrians and cyclists through the site which rises 50 feet from east to west. The building itself is conceived as a network of overlapping hubs, organized by research initiatives rather than traditional departments. The project’s goal of shaping a new interdisciplinary community is realized through a “terraced street” that connects the vast complex. Though much of the building will be below-grade, the design brings daylight deep into the structure, with light and planted courts providing strategic landmarks and visibility outdoors.