K-14

The design of a new facility for the Horticulture program at Las Positas College is currently underway. The new Horticulture Facility includes classrooms, labs, offices, resource areas, and a greenhouse. The butterfly roof canopy of the new classroom building at the Las Positas Horticulture Facility, reminiscent of a pergola, serves as a welcoming entrance for staff, students, and guests as well as an outdoor learning space, gathering space, and public event space. The form of the butterfly roof highlights the beauty of the surrounding hills and helps blend the new building with its site. With the collaborative design process, the new Horticulture Facility has achieved many teaching opportunities for the students. Integrating learning with the built environment, the facility has many different types of fencing to serve as a teaching tool for the Horticulture students, while also still providing required separation and security.

We performed architectural, structural, mechanical, and electrical services on this new 900 student Junior High school on the historic Martin Luther King, Jr., Elementary School site. The project involved razing the existing school, and providing A/E designs, achieving approval, and construction of the new school within 13 months. 

The project is a 7,500 sf free standing addition to the existing Sonoma County Office of Education (SCOE) named the Student/Teacher Learning Annex; a new facility for the North Coast School of Education, teacher credentialing program as well as other SCOE educational programs. The building includes four 960 sf classroom spaces separated by movable walls that can be combined in a number of configurations, depending on the need. There is also a 1,400 sf Networking Commons, where students and teachers can meet individually or in groups. This collaboration space is equipped with power, WiFi, and HDTV. The lounge includes a kitchen with enough space for having coffee, on-the-go meals, or even accommodate larger catered events. Two hoteling office spaces allow for private meetings or conferencing. Glass partitions with pivot doors separate the classrooms from the Networking Commons allowing the spaces to be opened for larger events and an overhead garage door that opens the space up into the outdoor patio.

The modernization of Union House Elementary School is a significant project for the District and the community: a dense residential population that is under served and in great need of revitalization. Recognizing this, we worked with District staff, the school’s key constituents and community members to determine several priorities for the campus. The design features improvements to the existing exterior learning spaces as well as the development of under realized campus areas. Inspiration for the project was drawn from the school mascot, the Astronaut, and a space exploration theme contributes both playful and educational elements to the design.

This Middle School Conversion project at Walters Jr. High School started construction in summer of 2017 and was completed in multiple phases with final move into new classrooms in August of 2019. The scope of this project focused on urgent infrastructure upgrades and reconfiguration of classrooms in existing buildings in conjunction with new classroom buildings to accommodate growth in student population from 736 to over 1,400 including the addition of a new 6th grade level. Our team was able to get three new classroom buildings through DSA in 3-1/2 months and ready for bid. Building modernization’s throughout were driven by the following criteria: code compliance and accessibility upgrades; enhanced functionality, interior finish improvements, interior layout modifications, expanded technology, acoustic improvement, flooring surface improvement, and other upgrades to meet CHPS criteria and provide better and healthier classroom environments; mechanical improvements for cooling and thermal comfort in individual classrooms, improved control systems, power and lighting upgrades, technology expansion and enhancements; improved building performance/energy savings.

The remodel of San Juan Unified School District’s Winston Churchill Middle School included an 11 classroom wing designed for 21st Century Learning and future ready environments. Designs modeled both interior and exterior group learning spaces, a new High Tech Media/Library Center, and classrooms with fully integrated wireless technology for individual connectivity to wall mounted flat screen displays. The rooms were prepared with white boards surrounding the classroom walls with no “front” of the classroom teaching spaces. The Band/Music room was designed to be repurposed to PE and the Administration Office was repurposed to the Band and Music Facility.

The design process of this new campus began with a needs assessment and a list of objectives from critical stakeholders, including Students, Instructors, Program Volunteers, Maintenance Staff, and School and District Officials. The design team met regularly with the stakeholders, as well as key Consultants to ensure the design fulfilled anticipated needs. The new site will feature teaching labs, a working farm, and a professional quality training kitchen. A new multi-purpose center will also be included as a venue to showcase VHS and its exciting programs. All facilities are set up in conformance with relevant industry standards. The educational labs will share an outdoor court with direct access to vineyards, vegetable gardens, and barns. Students and staff will host community events on the court, featuring student grown/ student-prepared cuisine. This site is located in a boundary area between agricultural and residential uses; therefore the barns are largely kept away from neighboring properties. However, all buildings are carefully sited to allow for construction of additional facilities as the programs continues to expand over time.

The 302,689 SF facility is situated on a sloping site with four-and-a-half levels. There are 998 parking spaces in the structure and 128 surface lot spaces. The partial level serves as an entry point to the structure on the site’s lower side. Several design elements break up the building’s exterior, making it less imposing. Rather than being hidden inside, the structure’s elevator tower and outdoor stairwell provide design interest as well as make it easier for visitors to find their way through the building. The exterior façade has a decorative, cast-in-place concrete wall with colored cement tiles and stainless steel perforated panel fins. This new structure meets LEED standards for sustainable design while also blending seamlessly into its surroundings. Solar panels incorporated in the structure’s roof have reduced campus energy costs by 25 percent.

The Center for the Arts at Pasadena City College brings together the disciplines of art and music in one facility. The goal was to create an environment that would inspire creativity, challenge the imagination, and encourage collaboration between the visual artists and musicians while carving out a distinctive home for both. Through the design process the team discovered the unique needs of these two departments and the potential to capitalize on the inherent artistic connections. Complex programmatic issues were resolved while introducing a dynamic collage of forms, materials, and colors that fits seamlessly into the campus.

The three-story, 87,000-SF building program includes a 94-seat lecture hall, 1,200-SF gallery space, art labs and studios, 88-seat Little Theater, 225-seat recital hall, music classrooms, rehearsal spaces, basement level support spaces and studio/labs for jewelry, photography, cinema, drawing, painting, digital, printmaking and sculpture. Due to the cross-disciplinary functions of the building and programmed space, careful consideration was given to acoustical treatment and separation. Lighting and theater equipment were carefully coordinated with the structure and building systems.

The design for the Library and Learning Center on the campus of Rio Hondo College, is a response to the building program, the master plan for the college, the site topography and natural amenities of the area. The new structure was also designed to seamlessly blend with the context and character of the existing campus.

The campus master plan anticipated a significant entry for the building on axis with the existing lower quad. The building entry is on this axis and was developed as a visible beacon, both during daylight hours and at night. This main entry leads to a two-story, day lit, atrium space. Within the atrium is a resin “curtain,” rising two stories within the space. The curtain adds a tremendous amount of interest to the space, as well as aiding noise control from the atrium into the library. The curtain also helps to define the periodical reading space located directly behind it to the south. 

Both floors are organized by a main corridor, or boulevard. On the library floor the curving clerestory lit boulevard ends in a grand reading room with views to spectacular landscapes to the west and north. The south facing stacks and reading spaces respond to the organic nature of the topography with a gently curving glass wall that takes advantage of the views and daylight. This space has a sloped ceiling with exposed structure to create a dramatic sense of place.