National University of Natural Medicine Master Plan

The National University of Natural Medicine campus is in Portland’s central city, near downtown, and consists of a triangle of land surrounded by freeways and high traffic thoroughfares. Hennebery Eddy, in partnership with Parametrix, developed a university master plan that supports NUNM’s future growth as it adds degrees and creates a state-of-the-art clinic. It included phasing plans to carefully implement current projects into the broader master plan, so immediate needs don’t impede future aspirations.

Faculty were separated from students, with offices and classrooms located in separate buildings. We looked at how collaboration spaces — where students and faculty informally interact — can be brought to the in-between zones. The plan accommodates major new building and renovation projects in a triangle of land surrounded by busy roads, addresses student housing options in living-learning centers, and explores retail opportunities to integrate the campus into the neighborhood.

“Who would have thought you could take 5 acres of an area that is under-appreciated, under-developed, traffic burdened, a “concrete heaven” — and transform it into a beautiful grass-covered, tree-lined, inviting green campus?”

— Keith T. North, Former Director of Facilities Operations, NUNM