The Brooks Institute of Photography campus and village at Cañada Larga is a master plan and form-based code for a 136-acre site just north of the City of Ventura. Patrick Siegman led the transportation planning for the project while a Principal at Nelson\Nygaard, as part of a team led by Moule and Polyzoides.
Located along the Ventura River on the site of a decommissioned oil refinery, the site affords beautiful views of adjacent orchards and distant mountains. The Plan is organized around three components: an overall vision for the expansion of the existing Brooks Institute of Photography campus, a new town center, and a new neighborhood. The campus plan more than quadruples the current student population, providing new classrooms, offices, sound stages and 300 dormitory units. The town center includes a 60-room hotel, up to 50,000 square feet of office and retail space and 100 units of courtyard and loft housing. The neighborhood offers approximately 600 units of market-rate housing arrayed in a variety of different types, including single-family houses, row houses, courtyard housing, lofts, and live-work.
The plan’s street designs use short blocks, terminated vistas, and other built-in calming measures to prevent speeding. A riverfront greenway forms the spine of an extensive bicycle and pedestrian network. The plan’s parking and transportation strategy is designed to improve students’ transportation options, while minimizing traffic. Unbundling parking costs from rents will let students save money by owning fewer cars, carshare vehicles will provide vehicle access without the high cost of ownership, and a group transit pass program will provide fare-free access to city buses.
Images courtesy of Moule and Polyzoides