Texas Christian University Campus Plan

TCU’s 300+ acre campus is divided into three main areas: the Historic Campus Core centered around University Drive, the Worth Hills/Athletics Area, and the East Campus expansion/Berry Street district. Using a tailored approach to enhance the sustainability, longevity, and sense of community within these three areas, the 2024 TCU Campus Plan recommends investments in academic life, campus and residential life, mobility, landscape, and infrastructure to enable long-term growth.

An Integrated Planning Process

Development of the TCU Campus Plan was comprehensive and integrated, including multiple on-campus work sessions supplemented by online surveys designed to gather input from faculty, staff, students, alumni, and the board over an 18-month period. The outcomes of the plan are responsive to the input received, informed by a rigorous data assessment, and aligned with TCU’s campus design guidelines to ensure the compatibility of future development.

Seven Big Ideas

The Campus Plan establishes a vision for a vibrant and expanded campus inspired by TCU’s sense of place and character. It is organized around seven “big ideas” which articulate the envisioned outcomes of the Campus Plan:

1. Improving academic facilities to support TCU’s mission and focus on a quality collegiate experience
2. Creating a green network in support of a comfortable, walkable campus that is connected to adjacent parks
3. Establishing the Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at TCU as a center of biomedical collaboration in the City’s Near Southside Medical Innovation District
4. Supporting the City’s Urban Village initiative by reimagining Berry Street as Fort Worth’s “place to be”
5. Making the East Campus expansion area a thriving hub for campus life
6. Connecting TCU to the Trinity River parks and beyond
7. Providing athletic facilities that are best-in-class in the Big 12 Conference

A vibrant, mixed-use east campus expansion is set forth through a combination of university and private-sector partnerships. In support of this vision, main thoroughfare Berry Street will be transformed into a new urban village in support of City of Fort Worth initiatives and is being carried out through private partnerships to deliver a combination of academic, research and administrative facilities, student housing, and retail that extend beyond the campus.

The plan also details the integration of TCU’s Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine with the City’s Near Southside Medical Innovation District and outlines partnerships with adjacent hospitals and medical institutions. This new School of Medicine will be centrally located to engage partners associated with the surrounding hospitals and medical enterprises. 

Long-lasting Infrastructure Improvements

Despite the compact nature of the campus, TCU exhibits an over-reliance on cars for mobility. To mitigate this, the plan reimagines existing pedestrian routes as shaded, accessible pathways designed to transform TCU into a pedestrian-friendly campus. Two main pedestrian corridors are introduced, linking the proposed East Campus residential district to the academic core and the athletics district to the west. These pathways, along with other streetscape enhancements, establish a campus-wide accessible network integrating the outlying areas into the pedestrian realm of the campus. Additional improvements include eliminating existing site barriers and introducing wider sidewalks, bike lanes, shade trees, and stormwater management features.

The existing campus stormwater management infrastructure is undersized to accommodate the east campus expansion, contributing to flooding and impacting the surrounding context. In response, the plan recommends an integrated stormwater solution featuring renewed infrastructure combined with a working landscape and a new campus open space designed to periodically flood.

Completed in April 2024, the TCU Campus Master Plan demonstrates a bold vision for the future of the campus while actively fulfilling the mission of the institution. Large parts of the plan are already being implemented, with a major multi-use development slated for completion by 2027 through a public-private partnership framework. This development will further elevate the unique student experience for which TCU is known.