September 17, 2026 — Award-winning interdisciplinary design firm Ayers Saint Gross has released its annual Comparing Campuses research, this year titled Resilience by Design. Introduced during the 2026 Society for College and University Planning (SCUP) conference in Minneapolis, this year’s report highlights how colleges and universities rebuild, adapt and evolve to support their communities through change while advancing their core missions and values. Now in its 28th year, the series blends historical analysis and research with real-world case studies to examine the ways colleges and universities reflect institutional values through campus planning and design.
The 2026 report builds on this legacy, outlining 12 actionable resilience strategies that have enabled institutions to navigate environmental pressures, financial drivers, social and cultural change, public health disruptions, external conflicts, and pedagogical evolution. These include:
- Embedding natural solutions;
- Planning for adaptable mobility;
- Rightsizing assets;
- Supporting gathering and expression;
- Reinvesting in and adapting existing assets;
- Embedding student support in place;
- Reinforcing memory and meaning;
- Incorporating system redundancy;
- Enabling digital and hybrid community;
- Designing for cross-pollination;
- Distributing critical functions; and
- Designing for slack.
Together, these strategies offer a practical toolkit for institutional leaders, planners, designers and campus communities seeking to strengthen long-term resilience. Ayers Saint Gross’s research also emphasizes the way decisions about space, infrastructure, landscape, mobility, identity and student support can expand or limit an institution’s capacity to remain connected, responsive and purposeful through uncertainty.
“Campuses have always been shaped by change, whether gradual or sudden,” explains Allison Wilson, Sustainability Director at Ayers Saint Gross. “But when institutions invest in natural systems, adaptable infrastructure, flexible space, and places for people to find community, they create campuses that can respond to disruption while continuing to support learning, belonging and discovery.”
Resilience by Design draws on national survey data and Ayers Saint Gross’s deep experience across a geographically diverse portfolio of work, with research grounded in real-world examples:
- Alcorn State University
- California Institute of Technology
- Harvard University
- Johns Hopkins University
- Joliet Junior College
- Michigan State University
- Mills College at Northeastern University
- Pennsylvania Western University
- Rice University
- Sewanee: The University of the South
- Stanford University
- Sweet Briar College
- Texas A&M University
- Tulane University
- Union University
- University of California, Berkeley
- University of Chicago
- University of Virginia
“At a moment when colleges and universities are facing complex pressures, resilience requires both long-term vision and practical action,” says Shannon Dowling, Principal at Ayers Saint Gross. “The strategies outlined in Resilience by Design give institutions a framework for making thoughtful decisions so that their campuses can remain relevant and deeply connected to the students, faculty, staff, and visitors they serve.”
With this latest research, Ayers Saint Gross builds on its legacy of leadership in higher education design, aiding institutions nationwide in translating their values into physical spaces that empower students to thrive. More information on Comparing Campuses is available by at Ayers Saint Gross.
