The College of Environmental Design, established in 1959, brings together instruction and research in architecture, city and regional planning, landscape architecture and environmental planning, and urban design. Bernard Maybeck inaugurated instruction in architecture in 1894. Landscape architecture instruction dates from 1913, and the city planning program began in 1948. The college offers instruction at undergraduate, graduate professional, and advanced graduate levels.

Along with class and seminar rooms, shops, labs, computer facilities, and design studios, Wurster Hall houses the Environmental Design Library, one of the top architecture, planning, and landscape architecture libraries in the nation. A separate visual collection houses slides, photographs, and digital images. The Environmental Design Archives holds the collections of more than 100 architects, landscape architects, and firms. Two campus wide organized research units—the Center for Environmental Design Research and the Institute for Urban and Regional Development—are located in Wurster Hall. They provide a research home and support to faculty and graduate students from the college and other professional programs. Exhibit spaces and a cafe are also available for the use of faculty, staff, and students.