UB Master Plan Wins Top Award from Western New York Section of the American Planning Association

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- "Building UB: the Comprehensive Physical Plan" has received a 2010 Professional Award in the category of Comprehensive Planning from the Western New York Section of the American Planning Association.

The planners received the award June 29 at the APA Western New York Section Awards Dinner and Business Meeting.

The plan, recognized as one of the best regional plans of the year, was produced by the University at Buffalo with Beyer Blinder Belle Architects and Planners LLP, with Andropogon Associates, landscape architecture; BFJ Planning, transportation; Baer & Associates, cost estimating; DEGW North America, educational programming; Ecology and Environment, sustainability; Foit-Albert Associates, historic preservation; Two Twelve, wayfinding; UB's Urban Design Project, public participation; and VFA Inc., facilities condition assessment.

The overall project was directed by Robert Shibley, professor of urban and regional planning in the UB School of Architecture and Planning, in his capacity as senior advisor to UB President John B. Simpson for campus planning and design. Shibley was recently named UB's first campus architect.

The award is given to a comprehensive plan that advances the science and art of planning. An APA Western New York Section spokesperson called "Building UB" a plan "of unusually high merit," and one that "significantly" advances the discipline. As a section winner, the plan will be nominated for an APA Upstate Chapter Award.

"This award is an important acknowledgement of the outstanding work of the entire university on the plan as well as efforts of our host communities in Amherst, Buffalo and throughout Western New York," said Shibley.

Simpson said the plan "expresses the collective aspirations of faculty, staff, students, alumni, neighbors and supporters. The goal of the plan, as part of our UB 2020 institutional strategic plan, is nothing less than to finally and fully achieve the vast potential of UB."

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, a flagship institution in the State University of New York system and its largest and most comprehensive campus. UB's more than 28,000 students pursue their academic interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a member of the Association of American Universities.