Project Data:

Firm Name:              Perkins Eastman Dougherty

Completion Date:     4/18/2018

Square Footage:      32492

Building Use:           Community College Career Technical Classroom and Administration Building

Location:                 Tustin, CA

Project Description:

Planning: The Advanced Technology Education Park (ATEP) Campus is a unique educational platform side by side with commercial tech incubation; the extent of input goes beyond normal academics to embrace local industry leaders and community planners. A “criteria document” has led to a subsequent design, encouraging input from a broad range of stakeholders. From vision to detail, a progressive process of presenting ideas without judgement, and transparent open project documentation, has ensured a successful Design-Build outcome.

Learning: Think it. Try it. Prototype it. Share it. Integration Design Engineering and Automation (IDEA) at ATEP is an active environment of experimental hands-on learning for the technical entrepreneurs of the future. The goals of community collaboration serve as the central design philosophy to create a space that welcomes constant change. As the first building on a new Campus, the new campus is created under one roof. Learning is elevated by space that encourages unexpected intersections and cross-curriculum opportunities.

Design: “We want an iconic building”…this was the challenge from the client. The building creates its own identity where a future campus is just beginning to take form. The Southern California climate blurs the line between indoors and outdoors, unified by a transparent glass wall that opens to encourage activity to flow between the spaces.
Materials, such as translucent walls at the ground level reveal activities in the labs surrounding a central core. A curving roof symbolizes motion, and an expansive attitude elevates the interactions of students and faculty.

Community: ATEP is different from the typical Community College environment; sharing space with an adjacent County transitional housing complex that is part of the “Tustin Legacy” neighborhood housed on a re-purposed military base. The City and County have joined together with non-profits and commercial interests in a planning process to create this new educational center that is an asset for the entire community. An interlocking set of development documents, negotiated between the College and the City, provide side by side commercial and education development. The vision is one of innovation, collaboration and discovery between the community, students and industry leaders, supported by an adjacent future P3 development.

Environment: Created around the core concepts of “Change is Constant” and “Transparency” in the articulation of the program; the space in which students and faculty interact will evolve over time to reflect what is new and challenging each day. The structure’s exposed form supports the ability to easily move large objects (such as emerging modes of transportation in and out of the building) and access to high speed data and visual access to activity, creates a high energy, interactive, collaborative space that embodies the College and community vision.

High Performance: This is a high-performance home for a high-performance curriculum. Designed to LEED Gold standards, ATEP is aiming for Net Zero. Roof mounted, DSA approved, ballasted photo voltaic panels provide green power, while resource efficient systems reduce demand for water, power and air. Smart systems integrate each project element to optimize performance and provide data for students and faculty to learn from their building in real time. The native Southern California landscape includes a high level of local materials with recycled content.

C.O.T.E. | Committee on the Environment

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