The Power of

Programming

Programming is one of the most critical (and often misunderstood) phases in designing a higher education facility. Before any sketches, renderings, or concepts come to life, there’s a deep discovery process focused on understanding how people teach, learn, collaborate, and grow within a campus environment.

When done well, programming establishes clarity, aligns stakeholders, and creates a roadmap for a building that serves students and faculty for generations.

At JP Architects, we approach programming through collaboration, clarity, and creativity, especially when working with institutions launching new campuses or redefining academic strategy.

What Smart Programming Achieves in Higher Education

1. Aligning Vision With Real-World Needs

Programming bridges leadership goals, academic needs, student experience, and operational realities.

It ensures the building supports:

• Pedagogy and teaching styles
• Future academic growth
• Flexible and multipurpose environments
• Collaboration and student success
• Technology and digital learning
• Facility operations and maintenance

The process is both strategic and human-centered.

2. Bringing Every Department Into the Conversation

Academic buildings are never one-size-fits-all.

That’s why programming involves a structured series of discussions with:

• Academic departments
• Student support services
• Facilities operations
• Technology and IT teams
• Campus leadership

These conversations yield critical insights about equipment, adjacencies, storage, circulation, accessibility, specialized rooms, and growth projections.

3. Managing Budgets Through Creative Space Planning

Higher education facilities must balance ambition with responsibility. Effective programming allows institutions to:

• Prioritize essential spaces
• Explore shared uses
• Reduce redundancy
• Adjust square footage efficiently
• Consider phased development
• Maintain quality while staying on budget

It’s not just designing within a budget…it’s thinking creatively inside the constraints.

4. Visualizing Options Clearly and Transparently

To guide decision-making, we often present multiple program scenarios, each showing:

• What is included
• What is excluded
• Cost and area differences
• Departmental impacts
• Opportunities for multi-use or flexibility

Visual clarity empowers leadership to make informed, confident decisions aligned with their mission and resources.

5. Grounding Decisions Through Site Visits

Nothing replaces walking the site.

Understanding orientation, access, utilities, pedestrian flow, daylight, and adjacencies to other campus buildings helps validate the program and ensure it’s rooted in real conditions.

Case Study: Programming a New Higher Education Facility at Joliet Junior College

When Joliet Junior College (JJC)—the nation’s first public community college—began planning a new facility for the start of a new campus, JP Architects was selected to lead the programming process. This effort required thoughtful coordination, creative problem-solving, and a flexible approach to evolving needs.

Listening First: Meeting With Every Department

We held numerous sessions with:

• Academic departments
• Administrators
• Student services
• Campus operations staff
• IT and technology teams

Our team captured detailed notes on room functions, storage requirements, lab needs, classroom sizes, adjacencies, equipment, and long-term goals. These insights formed the basis of the initial program.

A Budget Challenge From Leadership

Midway through the process, leadership challenged us to:

“Find a way to creatively fit the program within a space that meets our budget.”

This sparked a deep evaluation of:

• Shared-use possibilities
• Flexibility in room assignments
• Space efficiencies
• Circulation optimization
• Potential phasing strategies

Rather than reduce quality, we re-envisioned the program to make smarter use of space from 60,000+ sqft to 33,000 sqft.

A Program Change Mid-Process

As often happens in higher education planning, new information shifted the program.

JJC updated its priorities, prompting us to revisit interviews, redraw diagrams, adjust area allocations, and revise the program’s structure. Flexibility became essential, and our team responded quickly and collaboratively.

Multiple Options, Clear Comparisons

To support JJC’s decision-making, we developed a series of program options to present to the College’s Executive Cabinet that visually communicated:

• What each option included
• What was removed or modified
• How each scenario impacted the budget
• Departmental adjacencies and efficiencies

This allowed stakeholders to compare ideas side by side and refine the direction with confidence.

Ongoing Collaboration and Site Visits

Throughout the process, we engaged in:

• Follow-up conversations
• Clarification workshops
• Site visits
• Program refinement sessions
• Revisions based on leadership feedback

Every detail was approached with intention and clarity.

“Through programming, we were able to hammer out what the institution truly wanted and needed. At the end of the day, we’re designing this building for their use, and it’s important it reflects the College’s rich history, needs, and student experience. We found it valuable to prioritize listening, and through that process we delivered a solution that not only supports how people will learn, teach, and connect, but also introduces creative, efficient approaches to make the most of every space.” - Maria Hidalgo, Design Lead

Building the Foundation for JJC’s Future

Programming is where the vision becomes reality. At Joliet Junior College, the process resulted in a program that is:

• Thoughtful
• Efficient
• Aligned with academic needs
• Budget-conscious
• Adaptable
• Future-focused

It sets the stage for a dynamic new facility and a transformative chapter for the College’s expansion to a new campus. 

Until next time,

Jose R. Pareja

President | JP Architects, Ltd.

JP Architects, Ltd. is a full-service architecture firm specializing in K-12 Design, Higher Education, Governmental Design, commercial architecture and residential design. We have a young and vibrant team led by leadership who is progressive in their management style. We serve Chicagoland and North & Central Illinois and are licensed in multiple States. We bring sound principles of design, creativity, innovation, resourcefulness, reliability, quality, and functional architecture and interior design to each project. At JP Architects, Ltd. we REALIZE. the Possibilities, DESIGN. Your Reality. & INFLUENCE. Your Life and Community.