Campus Layout Design

Client: Mount Angel Abbey

Location: Willamette Valley, Oregon

Since the 1890s, the Mount Angel Abbey campus layout could best be described as disjointed. Home to the Benedictine monks, the owners of 800 acres of land in the Willamette Valley—including some of the last remaining original Willamette Valley scattered oak grasslands in Oregon—the abbey’s church plaza, bell tower, and seminary and academic buildings required a landscape plan that would heighten the interconnectedness of the campus as well as fostering a sustainable landscape to harmonize with the surrounding features of the environment.

The Benedictine monks hired Maul Foster & Alongi, Inc. to create a ten-year management plan for the land as well as a site plan for the campus. The management plan involved recommendations for forest thinning, invasive-species removal, pedestrian access, and planting of native grasses and shrubs to provide a sustainable landscape. The campus plan MFA developed connected the church plaza with its new bell tower; added new pathways; created a contemplative green space; and incorporated new parking and driveway features, including stairway and elevator access.

As a result of collaborative efforts with MFA, Mount Angel Abbey received:

• Ten-year landscape plan including recommendations for forest thinning, invasive species removal, pedestrian access, and planning of native grasses and shrubs
• A sustainably-focused landscape design
• Campus plan resulting in improved interconnectedness
• Oregon American Society of Landscape Architects 2008 Merit Award