The Claremont Colleges New TCC Student Center Design Concept

Design for net zero energy center uses mass timber to create a warm, welcoming and sustainable facility.

The Claremont Colleges (TCC) provides services to seven colleges in Claremont, California and is commonly referred to as the Ivy League of the west coast. LPA’s concept for a new student center is an ambitious three-story, 55,000-square-foot atrium conceived of cross laminated timber (CLT), also known as mass timber construction, as the primary building material for the building’s structure. This very sustainable, exposed-wood is an ideal material to provide warm and welcoming environments that are unlike most spaces found on college campuses today. The design includes a large umbrella-like solar canopy that shades the building, while providing a platform for photovoltaic panels to be mounted on the roof to assist in achieving zero net energy project goals.

Programmatic spaces in the New TCC Student Center will include a bookstore, convenience store, a student commons area, spaces for student clubs, health services and conference spaces. The new Student Center will support the social, emotional, and mental development of The Claremont Colleges student experience by providing sticky spaces that will unify students and keep them together in warm and vibrant spaces, filled with natural daylight and biophilic materials. These areas will include a variety of indoor and outdoor spaces to support health and wellness, nourishment, collaboration, social interaction, affinity groups, spiritual life and cross-cultural experiences in meaningful ways. Once complete, the TCC Student Center will be the genesis of friendships, business partnerships, relationships, families, and intellectual innovation.