Santiago Canyon College Student Services Building

Student services building frames welcoming campus entry

The first completed project of the facility master plan for Santiago Canyon College is a student services and classroom building, referred to as Building E. The three-story, 37,000-square-foot facility includes admissions and records, a bursar/cashier, financial aid, disability services, extended opportunity programs, a testing center, administration, counseling and faculty offices, as well as classrooms, lecture halls and computer labs.

During the planning phase, stakeholders emphasized the need for a multifunctional building that could effectively support students in their educational, vocational and personal goals. The college also wanted the new building to establish an architectural language for future projects.

Building E and the adjacent Learning Resource Center frame a new gateway into campus, creating a first impression for students, visitors and the community with a double-height glazed entry. High-performance glass, perforated metal fins and a deep metal canopy protect the glazed lobby from solar heat gain and glare.

The primary exterior material is concrete block, which is cost effective and provides superior thermal insulation. In addition to specifying scored block for texture and shadow, the design uses two contrasting colors: burnished charcoal and sandblasted beige. The charcoal block is used at walls facing out toward the loop road around campus. The beige block is used at walls facing into campus and is intended to blend with existing buildings.