FEATURE
San José State’s Physical Blueprint for Change
By Marcus Ismael
FEATURE
San José State’s Physical Blueprint for Change
By Marcus Ismael
The new Campus Master Plan is the bedrock from which SJSU reimagines its built environment for the next two decades.
San José State University is fertile ground from which the changemakers and creators of tomorrow hone their education in the heart of Silicon Valley. For SJSU, the Campus Master Plan (CMP) is the guide for updating the campus and defining a sense of place, belonging and inclusivity for future Spartans.
“Our Campus Master Plan creates a dynamic blueprint for what’s next at San José State,” says President Cynthia Teniente-Matson. “It reflects our shared commitment to building a campus that further supports evolving student needs, advances innovation and strengthens our connection to the vibrant communities of San José and Silicon Valley. This plan ensures that Spartans today and tomorrow have the spaces and support they need to thrive and lead.”
In recent years, a robust assembly of campus and community stakeholders defined the university’s strategic plan, Transformation 2030. Stemming from Transformation 2030’s Goal 5: Rebuild and Renew, the CMP is the framework and the physical blueprint for SJSU’s future.
On May 21, 2025, the California State University (CSU) Board of Trustees certified the CMP, which focuses on SJSU properties within Santa Clara County: the Main Campus in downtown San José and South Campus, home to intercollegiate athletics. A Master Plan for SJSU's other sites, like Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, in Monterey County will be developed at a later time.
The CMP proposes phased new construction and renovation projects that emphasize:
- Integrating new technologies through modernization.
- Building additional student and workforce housing.
- Connecting the Main and South campuses and stitching both into the social fabric of downtown.
- Creating flexible open space, centering inclusion and accessibility and leaning into sustainable design principles that cherish historical character.
Explore each facet of the CMP by clicking through the story cards below.
A Sense of Place
The CMP is thoroughly imbued with inclusivity and accessibility principles with standards for designing spaces that support the full range of Spartans' needs.
A Vibrant South Campus
A reimagined Stadium Way anchors the game day experience, serving as a grand boulevard to CEFCU Stadium and all of SJSU's athletics programs.
Sharing Space in San José
The CMP's reconfigures building footprints and establish design standard that orients campus to embrace connectivity with downtown.
Educating to a Higher Degree
Design standards guide the development of new classroom and research spaces that will support evolving pedagogy and modalities.
Paving the Path Forward
As CMP-guided campus renewal gets underway, robust community engagement and public-private support is needed to get projects from the blueprint to the ribbon-cuttings.
Now Open: SVP
Spartan Village on the Paseo, opened in 2024, is SJSU's first major foray into off-campus student housing through adaptive reuse of a luxury hotel. SVP leverages state affordable housing dollars to transform an existing and underutilized site in downtown San José into a nearly 700 student bed housing complex.
million total square feet of new and renovated spaces
new assignable square feet of instructional, research and related spaces
acres of new, additional open space on Main Campus due to reconfigured building footprints
new student beds in university housing facilities
Preparing for academic aspirations
By 2040, the plan projects a headcount growth at the university of 8,000 full-time students, requiring 750,000 total square feet of space. Online and hybrid format learning modalities will drive this growth. These modalities, inspired in part by teaching and learning changes expanded and widely-adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic entail both asynchronous, online course offerings and synchronous classes with flexible attendance methods. Students would join classes remotely, even if physically on campus, and on schedules at their convenience, necessitating flexible spaces for both them and teaching faculty.
This evolution of classroom and study spaces includes hybrid learning space in new academic buildings on South Campus for athletes and new classroom configurations on Main Campus to support global, neurodiverse and disabled students and faculty who benefit from adaptive or assistive technologies.
Ignacia Villavilazquez-Hill, ’05 MA Education and Counseling, director of San José State’s Accessible Education Center, hopes that these new approaches to teaching and learning will increase accessibility across the board.
“My hope would be that any improvement to SJSU’s accessibility would be carried out by a universal design model,” she says. “This would support all Spartans’ access and engage with our campus in a meaningful way without having to disclose their limitations.”
Yet for all the planned growth in academic and learning space, the plan's prioritization of density within the limited campus footprint, development will lead to the addition of five net new acres of open, landscaped space on campus. This preservation and creation of natural spaces balances the need for built environment growth with maintaining SJSU's storied commitment to sustainability and a healthy park-like atmosphere.
Learn about each aspect of the Campus Master Plan by exploring the story cards above.
This conceptual rendering depicts a new home for the Charles W. Davidson College of Engineering. Two buildings frame a grand new entrance to the Main Campus at the intersection of Ninth and San Fernando Streets and envelope a Northeast Plaza defined by flexible outdoor space for gathering and reflection outdoors. Actual design subject to change.
This conceptual rendering depicts a new home for the Charles W. Davidson College of Engineering. Two buildings frame a grand new entrance to the Main Campus at the intersection of Ninth and San Fernando Streets and envelope a Northeast Plaza defined by flexible outdoor space for gathering and reflection outdoors. Actual design subject to change.
A conceptual rendering of a new, mixed-use student life and academic building to redefine the center of campus. Designed to complement the Diaz Compean Student Union, this facility embraces the landmark Arch of Dignity, Equality and Justice while providing stunning new vistas onto downtown San José. Actual design subject to change.
A conceptual rendering of a new, mixed-use student life and academic building to redefine the center of campus. Designed to complement the Diaz Compean Student Union, this facility embraces the landmark Arch of Dignity, Equality and Justice while providing stunning new vistas onto downtown San José. Actual design subject to change.
Top image: Conceptual rendering of a new vista onto Tower Hall from South Fourth Street. This new gateway, made possible with the removal of the old science building, the renovation of Washington Square Hall, and the addition of a new building adjacent to the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, revives a historic concept of a grand Tower Hall courtyard where new buildings frame and show architectural deference to SJSU's oldest and most prominent landmark.
Follow along with the Campus Master Plan
The plan document and all photography prepared by campus master plan lead consultant Field Paoli Architects with renderings by Ivers Renderings. CMP consultant team includes Urban Field Studio, Dalton Education Associates, SWA Landscape Architects, Ascent Environmental, Arup, Keyser Marston Associates, and Lloyd Engineers.
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