Student Life

Building upon the vision and success of the first phase of student housing on the CSU Northridge campus, the second phase of the housing program has been completed by the AC Martin and CW Driver design-build team. The new complex consists of 100,000 GSF of space featuring 396 beds, spacious recreation and lounge areas, a coffee house—named the ‘Freudian Sip’—as well as study areas and laundry facilities. 

Cultivating a campus lifestyle appropriate for freshman students, the new housing project focuses on community elements within the complex such as a common kitchen, classroom and learning center, recreation lounge and multipurpose room, as well as outdoor courtyards with fire pits, barbecues, seating and activity spaces, and extended patio space. The new building design provides a variety of open spaces to encourage socialization and living clusters sized and configured to allow students to become part of a ‘family’ where they feel connected and supported.

With this project, the university has completed construction of approximately 800-bed spaces, which is roughly 1/3 of the masterplan goal of 2,500 beds total. 

See Phase I Student Housing at CSU Northridge

See Phase III Student Housing at CSU Northridge

Gateway Hall provides California State University, Channel Islands with a new “front door” that is a beautiful and welcoming space for both the campus and the surrounding community. The spaces provide innovative environments for learning, interaction, and collaboration. The project consolidates several departments and spaces into a centralized hub - providing a new building and renovated buildings that are intuitive, user-friendly, and easy to navigate.

The program for the new Gateway Hall provides approximately 80,000 SF of renovated existing facilities and new construction. The project will house campus admission, and a new “one-stop-shop” for student services, including financial aid, registrar, and advising. The new building will also house new general classrooms and departmental labs for math, computer sciences, and mechatronics. Lastly, the extended university will find a new home in renovated facilities; one that provides a new front door to the community. The project pulls together programs and occupants from across the campus into an interdisciplinary and integrated complex, putting the student and public community first.

Designed according to the mission style campus guidelines, the new building blends harmoniously into the contextual campus. Gateway Hall will greet all who arrive at the CSUCI campus with its welcoming façade. As a campus built in the Mission style, buildings were sited to define outdoor space. The new Gateway Hall building is sited to maintain that character. At the termination of University Drive, the visual corridor facing south towards the North Quad is preserved by siting Gateway Hall on the west side, in anticipation of a future theater to be located on the east side, and creating a paseo in between the two buildings. The Paseo serves as the main outdoor circulation through the Gateway site and into the North Quad and the rest of the campus. It is envisioned to have a leisurely quality as one moves through the site with Paseo-facing edges that are porous, providing visibility into interior activities. The Paseo has an entry plaza on its north end, giving a sense of arrival to the campus. The renovation of the historic structures gives new life to the old buildings, adapting the previous mental hospital into a welcoming university environment. The buildings were completed in August 2025.

The new 8,000 SF Mervyn M. Dymally African American Political & Economic Institute (MDAAPEI) building at California State University, Dominguez Hills, will embody progress, purpose, and vision, marking the start of a new era of growth and expanding the Institute’s significance.

Once confined to a 450 SF space in the campus library, where the Executive Director worked from a converted janitor’s closet, the Institute has consistently documented and celebrated African American leadership in politics, business, and public policy. Despite space constraints, MDAAPEI has empowered students and the community through training, leadership programs, and cultural events that highlight the African Diaspora. The 8,000 SF AC Martin-designed facility will be built on a vacant site near the College of Continuing & Professional Education. The building will include administrative offices, a reading center for rare works, and ample space for community engagement on critical issues. The Institute will house a digital archive, oral histories, a research space, and a 2,000-volume library open to scholars statewide. Signature events, including the Aging Symposium, the Distinguished Speaker Series, and the African American Leadership Summit, will now have a dedicated home, amplifying the Institute’s impact. AC Martin was also tasked with developing a conceptual furniture plan to guide future furnishings, ensuring every detail aligns with the Institute’s goals. Thoughtfully designed interiors will honor the Institute’s mission and inspire visitors, reaffirming MDAAPEI’s commitment to empowering future generations, preserving vital histories

Based on the success of Phase I and II student housing, CSUN hired AC Martin for Phase III, including 200 beds and a major renovation of the main outdoor dining courtyard for campus housing residents. The project also includes a large study lounge, classroom, two multi-purpose rooms for programmed events, a large eat-in communal kitchen, a mail/package room for all on-campus students, and the Housing Facilities offices. Phases I and II are a 4-minute walk from Phase III. Phase III is directly adjacent to CSUN’s 1990’s dining hall. Our project upgraded and renovated the dining courtyard and connects it to the Phase III student housing courtyard. This area will be the new social HUB for freshmen with a large, shaded trellis enclosing the two courtyards and creating student life event spaces. The communal kitchen was doubled in size allowing for larger student groups to cook together. Phase III also has the package/mail room for all on-campus housing to draw students to this new social HUB. Phase III completed construction in August of 2025.

See Phase II Student Housing at CSU Northridge

See Phase I Student Housing at CSU Northridge