studioINSITE Kicks Off Metro State Neighborhood Plan

Denver-based campus-planning firm studioINSITE was hired in 2006 to produce the 20-year master plan for the 126-acre Auraria Higher Education Campus in Denver.  The firm has also recently been commissioned to serve as lead planners on the Metropolitan State College of Denver neighborhood master plan.

The Metro State neighborhood is defined under the Auraria Campus master plan as a seven-acre area of land along Auraria Parkway between 7th and 9th streets.

Rendering courtesy of studioINSITE

The Metro State neighborhood is defined under the Auraria master plan as a seven-acre area of land along Auraria Parkway between 7th and 9th streets. Metro State is one of the largest public four-year colleges in the United States, boasting the second-largest undergraduate student population in Colorado, according to the college's Web site. As its student body continues to grow, so does the demand for academic, administrative and student support spaces.

Prescribed under the Auraria master plan, each of the three campus institutions (Metro, UCD and the Community College of Denver) will shape a part of the campus in its own unique image, based on its particular mission, goals and priorities. studioINSITE is working closely with the Metro State Neighborhood Planning Committee, headed by Facilities Planner Sean Nesbitt, to evaluate real estate development, starting with a plan for the first vertical construction.

The Metro State neighborhood master-planning process began in early April and is slated for completion by early September.