Three Rivers Community College, Norwich, CT

Three Rivers was named for the nearby confluence of the Yantic and Shetucket into the Thames River. The 28 acre site is bounded by a wetland and floodplain to the east, which our design team saw as an asset. Drawing on inspiration from the forest and surrounding wetlands, we invited the wetland plant palette into the campus to assist with flood management while maintaining as much permeable area as possible. A grand allee of existing maple trees that was enclosed by the new building was preserved to shade the new courtyards. New parking lots were seeded with native grasses and wildflowers to create productive pollinator corridors and minimize high-maintenance lawn use. Dry-stack walls of local Connecticut stone announce the main entrances to the college and provide moments for gathering.

This project was completed for Three Rivers Community College in 2008 while Wendy was project designer and manager for Dirtworks, PC., in collaboration with Mitchell Giurgola Architects. Photography by Mark Weinberg courtesy of Dirtworks, PC.

The seeds of Assemblage’s approach to were planted during this project through the process of observing the site context to discover how ecological systems can inform the design approach. The process of learning what we can from the high performers guided us towards solutions for the challenges. Additionally, we found that a simple planting and material palette can be an effective way to design a beautiful, low maintenance site.