Princeton University is undertaking one of the most extensive building programs in its history over the next decade — adding some 3 million square feet in new construction to house more students, expand research facilities and replace aging buildings and infrastructure while advancing the University toward its sustainability goals.

The plans include new facilities to support teaching and research in engineering and environmental studies, additional graduate student housing and expanded athletic facilities. Among the projects underway:

ES + SEAS. Princeton is building a new home for Environmental Studies and the School of Engineering and Applied Science on Ivy Lane across from Lewis Library, Payton Hall, and Princeton Stadium. The four buildings, all connected underground, will create a new ES+SEAS neighborhood that is carefully integrated into the surrounding context. It will maintain distinct identities for ES and SEAS and provide strong connections to nature and outdoor spaces. The project will advance the sustainability ethos of the University and reflect the importance of environmental studies and engineering in a 21st-century liberal arts university.

Meadows Neighborhood. The University’s newest campus neighborhood located in West Windsor,  previously called the Lake Campus Development, will be a lively community with space to support academic partnerships, graduate student housing, varsity athletics, recreational uses, and parking. Initial development projects include graduate student housing and amenities, a racquet center with a fitness space, a softball stadium, flexible rugby and recreation fields, a cross-country course, and a parking garage. It also includes a central utility building or “TIGER-CUB” (“thermally-integrated geo-exchange resource central utility building”), connected to geo-exchange bores beneath the softball stadium, which supports the University’s shift towards more sustainable uses of energy. These projects will be completed over time, with projects slated for completion starting Spring 2023 through Spring 2024.

Princeton University Art Museum. Construction of a new museum building at the heart of the University campus began in summer 2021. The building complex will encompass the expanded art museum as well as the Department of Art and Archaeology and — in its current configuration  —  Marquand Library. The new art museum building will roughly double space for the exhibition, conservation, study and interpretation of the Museum’s collections; for mounting exhibitions; and for a new range of social spaces and visitor amenities. The design embodies the museum’s long-standing commitment to serve as a hub and a gathering place, a nexus for the arts and humanities that affords encounters with cultures past and present from around the world. In keeping with Princeton University’s Sustainability Action Plan, the new museum building will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and water usage, and enhance stormwater management in the area.

Hobson College. The design for Hobson College, Princeton’s newest residential college, considers how the spheres of living, learning, socializing and dining enhance one another, and how the college might house spaces of creativity and serendipitous collision among an increasingly diverse group of undergraduates. The project comprises a continuous sequence of mostly five-story contemporary buildings that enhance connectivity across campus with new, accessible walkways and vistas. The project, which incorporates numerous sustainability systems and features that will help the University achieve its Sustainability Action Plan goals, will seek Passive House and LEED Gold certification. 

Dillon Gym Expansion. Dillon Gymnasium is the headquarters for the Princeton’s Campus Recreation programs, serving undergraduates, graduate students, faculty and staff. In order to better serve the University’s growing campus community, a two-story addition will be constructed on the Dillon Court area, which will be resurfaced and landscaped for recreational use. Stephens Fitness Center and parts of the building’s A level will also undergo a major renovation, including a new accessible entrance and elevator. The University will seek LEED Gold certification for the building’s sustainable design.

University Health Services Renovation. University Health Services (UHS) provides outpatient medical care and counseling services for students and health and wellness programs that serve the entire campus community. To better advance a culture of health and wellbeing at Princeton, a new health center that incorporates the existing Eno Hall is being constructed. Designed with interpersonal connection in mind, the new addition will feature an accessible atrium and a multipurpose room with a green roof. The building will also be more sustainable, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and water usage and enhancing stormwater management in the area.