
Santiago Canyon College Science Center
Orange, California
The Science Building combines traditional lecture spaces with state of the art lab space, creating a comprehensive research and learning environment for Santiago Canyon College. The 62,000-sq.ft. program include lecture classrooms, faculty offices and lab spaces for chemistry, biology, microbiology, zoology, geology, physics, mathematics, and astronomy.
The building design looks to the campus context, educational program uses and natural environment for inspiration. The campus is located within a valley. Views into the site from the surrounding residential communities above dictate that all new buildings on campus provide a roof form. The campus skyline is enhanced with each new building providing building profile and pedestrian overhangs. An architectural language of building parts consisting of roof forms, sunshades and burnished concrete block was developed from the new Library and Student Services Center projects. These elements are utilized to design cohesive campus spaces and define the outer edge of the buildings along the internal loop road.