Context
Located on the Menifee Valley Campus of the Mt. San Jacinto College, the Math and Science Building will act as a new center for collaboration and student engagement. During user group meetings, designers met with the faculty and staff and drew out four key design principles which lay the foundation for the building: community, learning on display, focus on student success, and flexible and adaptable design. The MSJC Math and Science Building aligns with the college’s vision for student success by designing to those principles that the team identified early on in the design process.
Program/Scope
The new 57,709 SF STEM building includes labs for physics, biology, microbiology, chemistry, anatomy & physiology, faculty offices, general purpose classrooms and collaborative student work space. Indoor / outdoor public gathering spaces enhance the campus experience along circulation pathways.
Special Challenges
The project began as a project proposal for state funding in 2010. Nearly ten years later, when the college procured the necessary funds and approvals, MSJC asked to proceed with design. However, due to state funding regulations, the project had to maintain the same square footage and building footprint as the original proposal, within 1%. The design team was challenged with using the originally programmed spaces to design spaces that adapt to changing curriculum, ideologies, and college programming.
Design
In response, the team designed a 21st century learning environment rich in technology and hands-on learning with a sense of place unique to the Menifee Valley campus. The pillars of design identified early in the process now shape the building in the following ways:
1) Community
The design shall create a sense of community for STEM students, faculty, and staff, as well as become a hub of interaction for all campus members. Indoor / outdoor public gathering spaces foster community in the heart of the campus.
2) Learning on Display
Laboratories and classrooms shall connect with STEM students and the greater campus community through the large amount of interior and exterior window glazing. Additional displays for student projects and research shall populate the circulation and soft spaces of the facility.
3) Focus on Student Success
Laboratories will allow for instructors to be more engaged with the class while being able to focus on individual success for greater hands-on teaching and learning. Collaborative spaces throughout the building encourage student-teacher interaction as well as peer to peer collaboration for the successful outcome of the students.
4) Flexible and Adaptable Design
Through the use of modular furniture, lab-bench modules and standardized classroom and laboratory spaces, the building shall allow for maximum furniture flexibility and growth for decades to come. Multi-use spaces, such as huddle rooms, also maximize the use of support spaces throughout the day as students, staff, and faculty share their time in each space. |
