Planning today requires more than preparing for growth—it requires anticipating change, making decisions that will shape campuses, districts and communities for decades. NBBJ helps universities, healthcare systems, cities and corporations navigate growth, uncertainty and change through planning that turns complex challenges into clear, actionable strategies.

Whether guiding a comprehensive campus plan, planning a research or health precinct, or shaping an innovation district, we integrate planning, mobility, infrastructure, operations and stakeholder engagement to help clients make confident decisions and create environments that evolve alongside changing needs.

Design Perspectives for Urban Environments

Growth rarely happens all at once. Whether expanding a university, healthcare system or research campus, successful plans provide a flexible framework that helps organizations make confident decisions today while adapting to changing priorities tomorrow. For Louisiana State University’s comprehensive and strategic campus plan, NBBJ’s advanced planning tools help the university co-locate departments and programs, prioritize underused space and create a new, active academic spine where analysis reveals most student activity is concentrated.

Vibrant, functional districts don't emerge building by building—they are planned as connected systems. Integrating mobility, public space and development creates places that support economic growth, strengthen community and remain resilient over time. Our work with the City of Bellevue, WA, has developed zoning codes and development guidelines that are enabling the neighborhood of Wilburton to grow into a model of sustainable, equitable mixed-use development.

The best plans are shaped by the people they serve. Meaningful stakeholder engagement helps organizations build consensus, uncover opportunities and create plans that reflect community priorities from the outset. To plan the future of the multi-use recreational Nickel Plate Trail in Fishers, IN, a robust, six-month community engagement and planning program including an online suggestion box, community events, activities and think tanks, and partnership with local schools shapes the direction of the project, inspiring the team to more explicitly integrate the history and materiality of the site into the trail’s design and programming.

Healthcare campuses must balance today's operational demands with tomorrow's models of care. Strategic planning helps health systems expand capacity, improve patient and staff experiences, and create flexible campuses that evolve alongside advances in medicine. North Carolina Children's Health Campus establishes a long-term vision for the Carolinas' first freestanding children's hospital, organizing clinical care, research, behavioral health and education into a walkable campus designed to support collaboration, future growth and a seamless experience for children and families.

Work and Ideas

All Work and Ideas

Georgia Institute of Technology Comprehensive Campus Plan

Moving from Plan to Planning: A New Framework for Campus and Capital Decisions

LSU Comprehensive and Strategic Master Plan

Downtown Boston Planning Study

The University of Utah Physical Development Plan

Article

Our Coastal Cities Are Under Threat

Brigade Cornerstone Utopia

Article

From Insight to Action: Three Ways Design Computation Empowers Better Decision-Making

Seattle City Light Denny Substation

Urban Environments Leaders

Tom Sieniewicz, AIA, AICP, LEED AP, WELL AP

Partner | Urban Environments Practice Leader

Megha Sinha, AICP, LEED AP

Principal | Firmwide Urban Environments Practice Leader

Alan Mountjoy, AIA

Consulting Principal | Urban Environments Market Leader

Kim Selby, AICP CUD

Principal I Urban Environments Market Leader

Kim Way, PLA, ASLA

Consulting Principal | Lead Planner and Urban Designer

Featured Project

Georgia Institute of Technology Comprehensive Campus Plan

NBBJ's flexible, dynamic, living plan for Georgia Tech will continue to evolve with the University over the next 10-20 years, accommodating campus growth through density with a high focus on DEI, community building, sustainability and reduced carbon footprints.

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