WASHINGTON — Sidewalks wide enough to accommodate pedestrians using sign language. Rounded corners and strategically placed reflective glass so people who cannot hear can see who's coming and who's behind them. Glass elevators so passengers can communicate with outsiders in an emergency.

These are part of Gallaudet University's vision for developing four acres of vacant land across the street from its rolling campus in Washington, D.C.

Rather than continue cloistering itself from the community, the nation's only university for the deaf for the first time is designing a streetscape and architecture to bring together deaf and hearing people. The university is designing a mix of housing, offices, retail sites, restaurants and cultural attractions. "It would create a connection to the city and tear down the walls," said Hansel Bauman, an architect helping design the project. "It's a sea change in thinking."

Since its founding 144 years ago, Gallaudet's separation had been driven by the belief that the deaf are better off immersing themselves in their own culture. The Gallaudet insularity is symbolized by the 8-foot-high fencing and thick stone walls that line the university's perimeter.

But the school intends to begin removing those barriers.

"When my parents grew up in the 1930s and 1940s, there were negative views of people with disabilities, and it drove the community inward," said Fred Weiner, executive director for program development, who is deaf. "What you see is a reversal. You have a more diverse America. You see technological advances. There are still challenges, but you have so much more access, and that's why students are saying they want to be part of it."

The impetus to build is partly rooted in national attention drawn two years ago, when students shut down the campus to protest the university's new president. "One of the outcomes from the campus unrest was the false perception created in the media that deaf people are monolithic," Weiner said. "That is, none of us speak or hear, all of us share the same views on all matters, and that when one deaf person speaks, that person speaks for all deaf people. I assure you, this is not the case.

"In a sense, our foray into Sixth Street is our opportunity to show the world that deaf people are diverse in many ways," he said. "The fact that we're opening up the campus is a symbolic expression of our intent to blend the deaf and hearing worlds on equal terms."

With cochlear implants making it possible for deaf students to attend mainstream schools, Gallaudet officials also say they need more attractions on campus. In the past five years, undergraduate enrollment has declined from about 1,400 to just under 1,000.