A few weeks into the fall semester, campuses have found their rhythm. Schedules are set, the bookstore lines have thinned out, and students have claimed their favorite spots. Some of those spots are inside, but many of the moments that shape college life happen in the spaces between buildings. The walk to class. The courtyard where friends catch up. The shady bench where someone finally finishes that reading.

At McCullough, we see campus open space as the connective tissue of student life. These are the places where a new student starts to feel at home, where classes spill outdoors, and where a campus shows who it is. Over the years we've had the chance to shape these spaces at community colleges and universities across California, and each one reminds us that good campus design is about people first.

Here's a look at a few of them:

San Diego State University: A Campus Growing Its Canopy

San Diego State University (SDSU) has been on a mission to rethink its campus landscape since 2015, and McCullough has been proud to be part of that work. Centennial Mall captures the spirit of the effort: replace turf that nobody was using with shade, planting, and places to actually gather. Campus-wide, the result has been hundreds of new trees and thousands of square feet of lawn reimagined as social space, along with a more cohesive landscape identity that feels distinctly SDSU and distinctly Southern California.

It's the kind of change you feel on a hot September afternoon, when a shaded seat between classes makes all the difference. Our work at SDSU extends across campus, including Olmeca/Maya Hall and East Campus Drive, to the Don Powell Theatre and Second Stage. We've also completed two Arts District Master Plans for SDSU, one for the Main Campus and one for the new West Campus, each adding to a landscape that supports how students live and move day to day.

Mesa College: A Hub for Connection

When San Diego Mesa College set out to encourage more social engagement among its diverse student body, the answer was a central campus hub. The Mesa College Commons, home to a café and bookstore, is framed by two courtyards: one for outdoor dining and one designed as a calm, safe place for students waiting on a ride or passing time before their next class.

Sustainability runs through the whole project. Native, drought-tolerant plantings fill the gardens, a rooftop kitchen garden with a cistern supports the college's culinary program, and the remaining landscape is irrigated with condensate water from the building's cooling systems, a first for a San Diego community college campus. The project was recognized with a ULI San Diego-Tijuana Healthy Places award.

Across campus, the Center for Business & Technology takes its cues from nearby Tecolote Canyon. The building's two wings open onto a courtyard that doubles as an open-air classroom, with large stone slabs arranged for group seating. A garden walkway even serves as a runway for student fashion shows, proof that the best campus spaces make room for the unexpected.

Looking ahead, McCullough is currently at work on Mesa College's new Performing Arts and Administration Center. Set into the hillside on the north side of campus, the five-story building will create a new, more welcoming gateway to the heart of campus. With a main stage for theater, music, and dance, and upper levels that open onto an active plaza, it will be a new front door for the college and a new stage for campus life, inside and out.

San Diego Community College District: Designing for Every Student

Mesa College is one piece of a much larger relationship. McCullough has worked with the San Diego Community College District on projects across its campuses, including the Educational Cultural Complex, SDCCD Student Housing, and the San Diego City College Career Technology Center. Community college students juggle work, family, and school, and outdoor spaces that feel welcoming and easy to use matter even more when time on campus is limited.

Our current work at San Diego Miramar College shows just how broad campus life can be. The new Early Education Center will replace the college's existing Child Development Center, serving infants, toddlers, and preschoolers from both Miramar College families and the surrounding community. Interactive play areas and outdoor exploration zones are central to the design, along with a secure drop-off area and stronger connections between the north and south ends of campus. For student parents, a great early learning center steps from class can make all the difference.

Cerritos College: Falcon Square Takes Shape

Currently in progress, Falcon Square at Cerritos College is transforming an underused space at the center of campus into a true heart of student life. The plan brings together flexible event areas, clear walking routes, stormwater strategies built into the landscape, and much-needed shaded seating, supporting everything from large campus gatherings to everyday hangouts.

The design grew out of real conversations. Through five rounds of stakeholder presentations, four early concepts were refined into a single vision shaped by students, faculty, and staff. With limited room for large canopy trees and a modest budget, the team got creative, using integrated shade structures and layered planting to keep the square comfortable and inviting. We can't wait to see it filled with students.

Mt. San Antonio College: A New Front Porch for Learning

At Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, a new Library Learning Resource Center is on the way, replacing a library that has served students since the 1960s. Working alongside HPI Architecture, McCullough is shaping the landscape around it to be as much a destination as the building itself.

The site comes with dramatic changes in grade, so a big part of the design is about connection: turning the climb from the lower parking area to the library into a grand, accessible arrival that feels welcoming rather than daunting. Along the way, active corners like an "artist corner" give students places to pause, gather, and see each other, while outdoor reading areas bring study time into the fresh air. It's a reminder that a library isn't just about what's on the shelves. It's about giving students a place to belong.

Room to Grow

Whether it's a quad, a courtyard, or a quiet corner by the café, campus open space does a lot of work. It helps students find their people, gives them room to breathe, and connects them to the place they'll call home for the next few years.

That's what drives our work: design rooted in empathy, community, and the human spirit engaged in nature.

Here's to a great semester!

Class Is in Session (Outside): Where Student Life Happens on Campus