Torrance, CA – November 24, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — The HGA Architects & Engineers-designed Student Services Center at Monterey Peninsula College in the Northern California town has officially opened, showcasing the architectural firm’s ability to create a sustainable, flexible facility that can be re-purposed for the future. HGA provided full architectural service for the project, which is designed to meet LEED® certification guidelines and also successfully centralizes several diverse programs that were previously scattered across the college’s campus.
“Flexibility and sustainability are more vital than ever in architecture today, particularly in higher education, where every dollar counts,” said Principal/Project Manager Frederic Sherman of HGA’s San Francisco office, which delivered the project on time and under budget. “Monterey College’s new Student Services Center was designed to be adaptable, open to any needs the college many have and erasing the possibility of it becoming obsolete in the future. The center was designed to integrate into the school’s existing student activities center. For the first time there is a one-stop place for students to interface with the tools and services they need to be successful.”
The Monterey Peninsula College Student Services Center finally brings together the school’s financial aid, developmental disabilities support, registration and academic offices into one structure. Programmatic interests, construction budget and environmental impact all influenced HGA’s design of the building.
Removable walls contribute to the building’s flexibility. Additionally, interior design services spearheaded by HGA produced furniture that would work with the demands of the school, which required acoustic sensitivity and privacy.
The creation of flexible classrooms has become a staple of HGA’s higher-education practice. The firm’s work at Monterey Peninsula College is not unlike what HGA accomplished at the East Los Angeles College (ELAC) Student Services Center, which is slated for a 2014 completion, and consolidates nine school departments into a single, flexible learning environment. As with all of the firm’s work in this arena, HGA’s design practice encourages collaborative student-faculty interaction while incorporating sustainable strategies.
Joining Sherman on the HGA design team for Monterey Peninsula College was Scott Berry and Demetrios Kanakis. Consultants included Timmons Engineers for mechanical/electrical/plumbing, structural engineers SOHA Engineers and landscaping consultants CMG Design. Swinerton Builders served as the contractor.
About HGA Architects and Engineers:
HGA is an integrated architecture, engineering and planning firm that helps prepare its clients for the future. With offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Sacramento, California and Minneapolis and Rochester, Minnesota; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Washington, D.C., the nationally recognized firm has developed expertise in the healthcare, corporate, arts, community, higher education, and science/technology industries since 1953. HGA’s culture for interdisciplinary collaboration, knowledge sharing and design investiga¬tion enables its clients to achieve success with responsive, innovative and sustainable design.Visit www.HGA.com.
