Inspire, the Edenwald / Goucher College University Retirement Community (URC), represents Maryland’s first formal partnership between a Life Plan Community and an academic institution.
Located on three acres within Goucher College’s 287-acre wooded campus, the project establishes a living-learning environment where older adults and students engage through shared education, culture, and mentorship.
The expansion introduces three interconnected residential towers ranging from eight to eleven stories, providing 125 independent living apartments above structured parking. More than 25,000 square feet of common amenities including classrooms, a café, yoga and wellness spaces, a theater, and a sky-lounge event venue, support daily interaction across generations. A fully enclosed pedestrian bridge connects Inspire to the existing Edenwald campus, while accessible paths and trails link residents directly to Goucher’s campus network.
Guided by inclusive planning and extensive stakeholder engagement, Inspire reframes senior living as a place of purpose, intellectual vitality, and belonging, demonstrating a replicable model for university-affiliated retirement communities nationwide.
Residents audit Goucher courses,
attend cultural and athletic events, and access the college library, while students participate in mentorships, co-learning experiences, and shared programming. Educational offerings span faculty-led courses, creative residencies, wellness instruction, and joint study-abroad opportunities.
Three towers frame an elevated activity plaza above structured parking,
creating a central gathering space for events, dining, performances, and outdoor wellness activities. Interior walkways and bridges establish two-way connections between Inspire, the existing Edenwald campus, and the surrounding Towson community.
The design bridges Edenwald’s hospitality-driven environments with Goucher College’s mid-century modern heritage.
Horizontal ribbon windows, dark bronze framing, brick, Butler stone, and wood-grain fiber-cement panels echo the campus’s architectural language while maintaining a contemporary, transparent expression within the wooded landscape.
Ultimately, it is just residents, students and faculty joining together in a collaborative fashion. Goucher is planning to create program classes that really can only happen if they are intergenerational. If you’re looking at history, let’s say race riots back in the 1960s, you can have the class involve residents who actually were marching."
