To help realize our ambitions in research and education, we propose major investments in new and improved facilities on East and particularly West Campus. Over time, important core facilities on West Campus -- West Union, residential housing, and Page Auditorium -- will be brought up to date to better support Duke's educational goals. On East Campus, Baldwin Auditorium will be renewed, and new spaces will be developed to support the education of first-year students. Across the university, Duke will make new strategic investments in libraries and information technology.

The most dramatic will be the transformation of the area anchored by the Nasher Museum of Art, a decades-long process that began with Duke’s Master Plan in 2000. Parking lots and outmoded residential units will give way to Duke's vision of a 21st-century university, a place where academic programs, residential housing for more than a thousand students, arts venues, and campus services blend together to create a strong sense of community.

This project is envisioned as an academic village that supports the intellectual and social growth of Duke undergraduate students and prepares them to interact, engage, and exchange with the world beyond the university. It will provide living arrangements for undergraduate, graduate, and professional students and some faculty, plus dining, recreation, and academic support spaces, while also serving as a living laboratory for sustainability. It will be a home for the arts and interdisciplinary research centers on campus and is expected to include shared facilities for digital media production, student performance and exhibitions, as well as a film theater and teaching and learning space designed primarily to meet the needs of a wide array of departments and programs.

The architecture will reflect Duke’s commitment to sustainability, environmental stewardship, the presence of green space, and resource conservation. A minimum Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ Silver certification is the target for all construction, with some buildings to be identified for a higher goal.