Workshops: The Vertical Campus: Designing Human Experiences on an Urban Scale

John Sellery
Group Managing Director
M Moser Associates, Denver

Increasingly attractive to organizations in dense urban areas, vertical campuses offer a progressive and adaptive environment that can accommodate ever-evolving business needs and foster more collaborative interactions. Given the rapidly changing nature of work and behaviors within the built environment over recent years, the interior design of our tall buildings has taken inspiration from urban planning requirements to reflect and support the most essential needs of its communities. In and of themselves, vertical campuses can offer unique, personalized experiences for their occupants, by way of connective features and communal spaces that enhance social engagement. However, much like a city, a vertical campus cannot operate successfully without integrating people’s most inherent needs to breathe clean air, drink potable water, interact with nature, and feel socially engaged. The impact that high-rise towers have on our external environment is as critical as their impact on the occupants living and working inside. Practical examples of large-scale workspaces that carefully consider the physical qualities and social aspirations of the idealized vertical campus reveal how the integration of technology, business and human needs into tall building designs can create healthy environments.