The Design Review Committee (DRC) is composed of consulting architects, as well as appointed faculty, staff and student representatives. The DRC provides input to project architects and campus decision-makers on issues of architectural and landscape design, focusing primarily on the exterior features and aesthetics in addition to siting, setting and circulation. The committee makes recommendations to the Campus Planning Committee and the Chancellor, although it is not itself a decision-making body.

Definition

The Design Review Committee (DRC) is a committee comprised of faculty, staff, and student representatives, as well as consulting architects, that operates jointly under the aegis of the campus administration and the Academic Senate and reports directly to the Chancellor on issues of architectural and landscape design at UCSB. It considers campus planning, architecture, landscape architecture, and the integration of art into the campus landscape.

Mission

The Design Review Committee is responsible for assisting the campus in achieving design of the highest possible quality for UCSB. This includes the design of buildings, siting and arrangement of buildings and other features, circulation, landscape, and other environmental matters. The DRC will be attentive to balancing the interests of individual building projects with the need for a well-planned campus as a whole. Periodically the DRC will review campus design guidelines and master planning. The Committee will make its recommendations to the Chancellor, and will also forward its reports to the Campus Planning Committee.

As needed, the offices of Budget & Planning (B&P) and Design & Construction Services (DCS) will consult with the DRC on development or updates to campus plans.

Less significant matters of design may be dealt with by the Small Projects Committee (SPC), consisting of staff from Design & Construction Services, Budget & Planning, HDAE and Campus Planning & Design, although some issues may still be directed to the DRC if the design significance of the matter is deemed especially important by the SPC.

Composition of the DRC

The DRC shall consist of the following members:

  • 3 - Consulting architects (one a landscape architect)
  • 1 - Associate Vice Chancellor for Design, Facilities & Safety Services (the AVC)
  • 4 - Faculty appointed by the Committee on Committees; at least two shall be members of the Senate's Committee on Capital & Space Planning
  • 2 - Student representatives (one undergraduate, one graduate)
  • 1 - Staff representative
  • 1 - Public arts representative, ordinarily the director or one of the curators of the University Art Museum

The committee shall be headed by co-chairs, one the AVC, the other a member of the Senate.

It is encouraged both that the Chair of the Capital and Space Planning Committee be a member of the DRC and that Academic Senate members serve more than one consecutive term.

Note: The designation of two faculty appointments being members of the Committee on Capital & Space Planning may be changed when the Academic Senate reviews its committee structures.

Consulting Architects

The consulting architects are appointed for a term of three years each and their terms are staggered in order to ensure continuity. The consulting architects are expected to develop a fairly deep knowledge of the campus in order to engage meaningful and professional dialogue with the project architect about the proposed design concepts and to stimulate high-quality work.

For DRC review of projects between $1 and 10 million there must be 1-2 consulting architects in attendance and for projects over $10 million there must be 2-3 consulting architects in attendance, including 1 landscape architect. DCS will make the determination regarding number of consulting architects.

Funding for the consulting architects is provided by the building projects themselves, and consulting architects receive a standard honorarium per meeting of $1,000.

Position within the Decision-making Process

While the DRC provides a recommendation directly to the Chancellor, it also reviews the projects before they are presented to the CPC (Campus Planning Committee) so that the latter also has the benefit of the DRC's recommendations. The recommendations of both the DRC and CPC are submitted to the Chancellor together.

With regard to the design review process for major capital projects, each project has a building committee, composed in part of users, that work closely with the architects in developing a design that responds to program requirements. The DRC is the entity that is concerned with design review. For projects between $1 and 10 million the DRC sees the project at two stages: the conceptual stage and at 95% schematics. For projects greater than $10 million the DRC sees the project at three stages: the conceptual stage; at the completion of 50% schematics; and at 95% schematics. For both scenarios the DRC’s recommendations are shared with the CPC after the conceptual stage and 95% schematics and accompany the CPC’s recommendation to the Chancellor.

Voting Members
Susannah Scott, Co-Chair - Senate Appointed Faculty Representative
Renée Bahl, Co-Chair - Associate Vice Chancellor
Alexander Luckmann - GSA Student Representative
Alice Kimm, Architect - Design Consultant
Andrew Teel - Senate Appointed Faculty Representative
Derrik Eichelberger, Landscape Architect - Design Consultant
Julie Eizenberg, Architect – Design Consultant
Julie Hendricks, Campus Architect, Staff Representative – Design & Construction Services
Richard Wittman – Senate Appointed Faculty Representative
Silvia Perea - University Art Museum
William Smith - Senate Appointed Faculty Representative, Chair of the Capital Space Planning Committee
VACANT - AS Student Representative

Non-Voting Members
Ed Schmittgen, Staff Support – Design & Construction Services