A new landscape for campus life, completing an important campus quad and creating a new center for gathering, learning, and connection.
The Classroom and Office Building 3 project completes an important piece of UC Merced’s evolving campus, transforming what was once an unfinished edge into a defined and active campus quad. More than simply connecting new and existing buildings, the landscape establishes a shared outdoor room—a place that brings together different parts of the university and creates a stronger sense of campus identity.
Groundworks Office organized the landscape as a series of shaded plazas, groves, gardens, and gathering spaces that support the everyday rhythms of university life. Students can move through the quad on their way to class, meet beneath the trees, study outdoors, gather for events, or simply find a comfortable place to spend time between classes. The Social Justice Plaza and Amphitheater Grove expand this role, allowing the landscape to accommodate everything from informal conversations to performances and larger campus gatherings.
The design is also rooted in the climate and ecology of California’s Central Valley. A resilient planting palette, generous tree canopy, habitat, stormwater strategies, and water-conscious design create a landscape that provides shade and seasonal interest while responding to Merced’s hot, dry environment.
Together, the buildings and landscape complete the quad as a new piece of campus fabric—one that is social, ecological, and flexible, and that will continue to grow into its role as a central gathering place for UC Merced.
Groundworks Office organized the landscape as a series of shaded plazas, groves, gardens, and gathering spaces that support the everyday rhythms of university life. Students can move through the quad on their way to class, meet beneath the trees, study outdoors, gather for events, or simply find a comfortable place to spend time between classes. The Social Justice Plaza and Amphitheater Grove expand this role, allowing the landscape to accommodate everything from informal conversations to performances and larger campus gatherings.
The design is also rooted in the climate and ecology of California’s Central Valley. A resilient planting palette, generous tree canopy, habitat, stormwater strategies, and water-conscious design create a landscape that provides shade and seasonal interest while responding to Merced’s hot, dry environment.
Together, the buildings and landscape complete the quad as a new piece of campus fabric—one that is social, ecological, and flexible, and that will continue to grow into its role as a central gathering place for UC Merced.