This interactive map displays live data for Brown University’s campus in College Hill, Providence, Rhode Island. Toggle layers to explore buildings by type, find dining halls, locate safety equipment, or plan your route around campus. Buildings are color-coded by portfolio: dark blue for academic, purple for residence halls, green for athletics, and teal for biomedical research.

Brown University Campus Overview

Brown University occupies a historic hilltop campus in College Hill, Providence, Rhode Island, encompassing 263 buildings that span more than two and a half centuries of architecture and academic life. The oldest structure on campus, University Hall, dates to 1770, making Brown one of the oldest university campuses in the United States. The campus stretches across a compact urban footprint bounded by Thayer Street to the east and Brook Street to the west, with the iconic Main Green at its geographic and symbolic heart.

The university’s portfolio includes 79 academic buildings, 49 residence halls, 18 athletics facilities, and 10 biomedical research centers. Across the campus, 14 buildings hold LEED sustainability certifications, reflecting Brown’s commitment to environmental stewardship. Notable named buildings on campus include the Granoff Center for the Creative Arts, the Salomon Center for Teaching, the Watson Center for Information Technology, Stephen Robert Hall, Friedman Hall, and the Lindemann Performing Arts Center, each representing a different chapter in the university’s history of philanthropy and scholarship.

Dining & Food on Campus

Brown’s dining program offers students 7 on-campus food destinations with named dining identities, ranging from full-service dining halls to cafes and specialty venues. The flagship locations include Verney-Woolley (V-Dub), Sharpe Refectory (the Ratty), Josiah’s, School of Engineering (SOE) Cafe, Blue Room Cafe, Faculty Club, and Andrews Commons. Each location accepts Brown’s declining balance system and campus meal plans, and several offer special dietary accommodations including vegan, vegetarian, and allergen-free options.

The Sharpe Refectory — universally known as “the Ratty” — serves as Brown’s largest residential dining hall and an iconic gathering spot for students. The Blue Room Cafe in Faunce House offers a popular grab-and-go alternative, while Josiah’s in the Vartan Gregorian Quad provides a late-night dining option. Andrews Commons serves the north end of campus near the athletic complex, and the V-Dub anchors the Pembroke Quad area with full residential dining service.

Green Spaces & Outdoor Areas

Brown’s campus is woven together by over 524 green space features, including more than 25 named parks, gardens, and quads. Landmark outdoor spaces include Alumni Walk, Barus & Holley Gardens, College Green (Main Green), Ittleson Quadrangle, Pembroke Green, and Sciences Park, among many others that provide students with places to study, socialize, and relax throughout the academic year. The College Green serves as the central open space of campus, ringed by historic buildings and frequently used for events, graduation ceremonies, and informal gatherings.

The Pembroke Green and Pembroke Field reflect the campus’s history as a coeducational institution formed through the 1971 merger with Pembroke College, the historic coordinate women’s college. The Simmons Quadrangle (also called the Lower Green) connects the athletic zone to the academic heart of campus, while the Sciences Park provides a contemplative outdoor space adjacent to the biomedical research buildings on the south side.

Athletics & Recreation

Brown University competes in the Ivy League as a Division I institution and maintains 28 outdoor athletic fields and courts across campus, including Varsity Tennis Courts, and a variety of competition-grade turf and grass surfaces. The Nelson Fitness Center (officially the Jonathan M. Nelson Fitness Center) houses a 56-meter swimming pool, extensive cardio equipment, exercise studios, and dedicated varsity training facilities. It opened in 2012 as part of a major expansion of Brown’s athletic infrastructure.

Meehan Auditorium, a distinctive circular domed arena built in 1962, serves as home to the Brown Bears ice hockey program. The Pizzitola Sports Center, known informally as “the Pitz,” offers basketball, volleyball, wrestling, and squash facilities with seating for up to 2,800 spectators. Brown’s 18 athletics buildings represent some of the most heavily used facilities on campus, serving both varsity programs and recreational student athletes.

Transportation & Parking

Brown encourages sustainable transportation through an extensive network of 225 bike rack installations across campus, collectively offering over 1,276 usable parking spaces for bicycles. The university has partnered with the City of Providence to meet urban cycling standards, with racks distributed near all major academic and residential buildings.

Campus parking is organized across 82 lots and garages, with 86 designated accessible parking spaces distributed throughout. EV charging infrastructure is available at key locations including Lot 200 at 200 Dyer Street with two units and four ports, Lot 68 in the Power Street Garage upper level with three units and six ports, and Lot 44 with one unit and two ports. The RIPTA bus network connects Brown to the wider Providence metro area, with stops along Hope Street and Thayer Street providing access to downtown and neighboring campuses.

Health, Safety & Accessibility

Brown’s campus features a robust network of life-saving resources. 64 automated external defibrillators (AEDs) are installed across campus in accessible locations including 225 Dyer St, Andrews Hall, Brown Bookstore, and many more throughout all major academic and administrative buildings. Each AED location is mapped and documented with detailed directions to help anyone locate the device quickly in an emergency.

In response to the national opioid crisis, Brown has placed 41 Narcan (naloxone) kits throughout campus, co-located with AEDs and in high-traffic public spaces such as 225 Dyer St, Andrews Hall, and the Brown Bookstore. These kits are available to anyone on campus and are part of Brown’s broader harm-reduction and public health commitment. Additionally, 45 hydration stations are installed campus-wide, providing free filtered water to students, faculty, and visitors as part of the university’s sustainability and wellness goals.

Blue light emergency phones are distributed throughout the campus and are monitored by Brown’s Department of Public Safety around the clock. The accessible entrances map layer shows card-access and validated entry points for every building, while dedicated accessible drop-off zones are marked near high-traffic buildings. Lactation rooms (updated for 2026) are available across campus; the map layer links to room-specific contact emails. Gender-inclusive restrooms are located in buildings throughout campus and searchable by building on the map.

Biomedical Research Campus

Brown’s biomedical research enterprise is concentrated in 10 specialized facilities on the south side of campus, near the Rhode Island Hospital and Lifespan health system complex. The BioMed Center, the Grimshaw-Gudewicz Medical Building, Sidney E. Frank Hall for Life Sciences, and the Coro Center West anchor a research corridor that supports Brown’s Warren Alpert Medical School and its affiliated graduate programs in neuroscience, public health, and molecular biology.

The proximity of these biomedical buildings to major hospital systems makes Brown’s medical and scientific research campus one of the more integrated academic-hospital corridors in New England. Graduate students and faculty move fluidly between university buildings and hospital research wings, supporting translational research initiatives across multiple disciplines.

Campus data sourced from Brown University’s ArcGIS FeatureServer (org ID: HMLBxPKXzqtpFXfq). Layer data reflects the live Brown University campus mapping system and is updated as the university updates its GIS records.