| Antelope Valley College, located in Lancaster, California, is a critical educational resource in a region with higher-than-average poverty and unemployment rates. With a budget of $23 million, the new Sage Hall is the first major building constructed utilizing Measure AV bond funds. The structure also plays an important part in the college’s mission and provides a friendly, helpful environment for learning and its mission is to remove the obstacles to success and give students the tools they need to thrive.
The design team worked closely with the Dean of Rhetoric and Literacy in a series of workshops. The result is a new 35,000 SF, two-story academic commons that provides students with new classrooms, offices, a learning center, and a computer lab; these are open for use by the whole campus. Sage hall is envisioned as a comforting and welcoming space with a tutoring program that addresses the challenges of low matriculation and retention rates among a segment of the student population. It is also a space where students can seek individual help on various subjects, meet in small or large groups, attend workshops, or just have a place to study. The workshop also allows the team and staff to develop the key goals for the project, removing the stigma of seeking help, making the Academic Commons visible and easily accessible, and designing diverse environments to support both students and faculty and improve their experience.
Located at a highly visible crossroads near the library, the spanning roof marks the transition between building and campus. This creates an outdoor room that bridges the lobby and outdoor amphitheater with the campus. Inside and out, the building includes a diversity of seating and space configurations to accommodate student needs on an individual level addressing issues of scale, noise, levels of social interaction, and personalized learning styles.
Located in the western Mojave Desert, Antelope hiss has many challenges that are typical for desert architecture, such as high winds, hot summers, and cold winters. To address the local climate, the building relies on typical passive strategies. For example, deep overhangs at glazing, limited openings on the West façade, continuous insulation, and a robust building envelope. Additionally, the team used cool roof to reduce the heat island effect and pairs with additional roof insulation to minimize heat gain. The mechanical system utilizes high-performance controls and motor fan walls along with high-efficiency filters. These all ensure the comfort of the students and staff.
The design also pays special attention to energy-saving tactics. The building utilized a central skylight to bring daylight to the deepest area of the building. In combination with LED lights throughout the building, this is not only an effective energy-saving measure but also brings a measurable impact on students and staff. Utilizing campus photovoltaics over parking areas provides renewable power for the campus and project. Drought-tolerant desert landscaping and low-water plumbing fixtures preserve water. The building is located such that it avoids impacting large existing shade trees on the site.
The project is designed toward LEED silver equivalent.
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