From Vision to Reality: UH Manoa’s Path to a Resilient, Inclusive Future

ABSTRACT

The University of Hawaii at Manoa, the largest campus in the Hawaiian Islands, sought to reimagine its traditional, colonial-era campus as a Native Hawaiian Place of Learning while also expanding enrollment within its financial and physical constraints. A transformational design framework was developed, informed by spatial data and user input derived from extensive measurements and engagement with the campus community. By analyzing campus patterns, space utilization, and building conditions, the plan identified opportunities to enhance the existing campus's effective capacity, while supporting 10% enrollment growth, particularly targeting Native Hawaiian students. Additionally, over the next 20 years, the University can confidently reduce the campus's footprint by 1,000,000 square feet without affecting enrollment targets. This strategy, which focused on recapturing, consolidating, and activating both indoor and outdoor spaces, enabled UH Manoa to avoid over $600 million in new construction costs and reduce its deferred maintenance backlog by $150 million. Since the introduction of this framework, classroom utilization has increased from 17 to 30 hours per week, and administrative space occupant density has improved by 64%.