TCC Student Center Design

New Student Center Tidewater Community College - Chesapeake

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Tidewater Community College Student Center Design

Tidewater Community College Student Center Design

New Student Center

Tidewater Community College (TCC) is the second largest of the 23 community colleges in Virginia. With ambitious goals for each regional campus, TCC is becoming a national model of comprehensive community college education.

To support this growth, TCC’s Chesapeake campus prioritized the development of a student-centered “living room” featuring multi-purpose social, recreational, and service spaces which foster student success, enhance institutional identity, and serve the distinct needs of the community college population.

The new Student Center serves as a focal point, a crossroads, and a gathering place for students, faculty, and visitors. Each major component of the program has a prominent location in the building plan and finds useful expression on the exterior – drawing students in and welcoming them to stay on campus.

The main informal gathering space – called the Commons – acts as an all-campus front porch facing a new lawn. Likewise, the Fitness Center, located above the Commons, opens out through a glass façade to light up the front of the building with a vibrant slice of student life. The building takes advantage of the trellis-covered entry to separate the more active spaces on the left side from the quieter study and meeting areas on the right.

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Tidewater Community College Student Center Design

This Student Center will be a focal point, a crossroads, and a gathering place for students, faculty and visitors at the College.

Tidewater Community College Student Center Design

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Tidewater Community College Student Center Design

Design Goals

Community colleges are leading the effort to educate and retrain an incredible number of Americans to meet the challenges of an ever-changing world. A new student center can play a pivotal role on community college campuses to broaden on-campus learning, to enhance institutional identity, and to reach out to the distinct needs of the community college population.

Working alongside staff and students, the design team identified three main goals to support TCC in becoming a model for comprehensive community college education in the 21st century.

Retain Students on Campus Forecasting the right mix of amenities and programs to keep busy, commuter students on campus is a challenge – but defines the success of a good community college student center. The New Student Center provides a rich mix of uses that brings together a diverse body of students. The design strategically organizes the program to keep students active, engaged, and focused on their learning objectives while on campus.

Creating a Sense of Identity Unlike a typical campus academic building, a successful student center needs a more extroverted focus and expression. By projecting its lively activity to the outside, the new Student Center at TCC Chesapeake draws students in and contributes an attractive new image that enhances a sense of campus culture and community.

Understanding the Community College Student With one foot in the academic world, and the other firmly planted in the realities of working adulthood or the financial strains of higher education, many community college students balance a wide range of responsibilities. Specific programs (like child-minding) offered at the new Student Center at TCC Chesapeake serve this unique population and provide the resources students need to succeed.

Tidewater Community College Student Center Design

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Tidewater Community College Student Center Design

Tidewater Community College Student Center Design

Site Strategies

The architect developed a Precinct Plan recommending sequencing new buildings around an open campus green space and concentrating parking along the campus perimeter. The new Student Center fronts this new lawn and provides site connections to a distinctive tidal wetland landscape feeding the Elizabeth River. The building’s recreation spaces and café spill out to a lively terrace edging this unique wetland – engaging the special portion of campus contributing to TCC Chesapeake’s designation as an Audubon sanctuary. Selective use of local wood harkens to the campus’ distinctive natural setting and to the boardwalk that extends into the landscape.

The shaded entry courtyard acts as an outdoor atrium and frames a campus-wide portal that extends views and pathways into the tidal wetland landscape. By replacing a small amount of existing parking, this new green space links the Student Center’s entry and surrounding wetland context to existing campus buildings – providing a safe, pleasant, collegiate landscape connection.

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Tidewater Community College Student Center Design

Materiality + Sustainability

As the first step of an ambitious build-out for a growing campus, the new Student Center serves as a source of inspiration and a promise of things to come in future construction.

The design of the building’s exterior reflects these expectations by establishing a more collegial architectural character and highlighting sustainable design strategies that frame and respect the campus’ unique wetland landscape.

Taking into account the site’s sensitive natural surroundings, every effort was made to ensure a low impact construction process. Certified LEED Gold and a recipient of the “Maximize Open Space” and “Protect and Restore Habitat” credits under the LEEDv2 rating system, the Student Center features open areas that provide a protected habitat for birds, wildlife, and nature-exploring students alike. With aid from energy-efficient curtain walls, translucent panels, and storefront glazing, natural light pours through the building, connecting students to the site’s unique context.

Designed to survive on the area’s rainfall, the landscaping features native or adaptive plantings that require no irrigation – minimizing water use and maintenance. The incorporation of low flow fixtures contribute to the building’s estimated 48% reduction in water use, compared to baseline performance. With such close proximity to the Elizabeth River, 90% of stormwater is captured and treated on site, to protect the continued beauty of this local water resource.

Inside the building, 20% of materials were extracted regionally and 20% of the materials feature recycled content, such as Forestry Stewardship Council® certified wood finishes. In all, 75% of construction waste was recycled and diverted from landfills.

Tidewater Community College Student Center Design

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Tidewater Community College Student Center Design

Tidewater Community College Student Center Design

Versatile Programs

This Student Center will be a focal point, a crossroads, and a gathering place for students, faculty and visitors at the College. The building will contain student activity and recreation spaces, lounge / study areas, meeting rooms, a cafĂŠ / food service venue, a range of multi-purpose event rooms with movable walls for student events and conferencing, a fitness center, a flexible space for student organizations, and an area dedicated to child minding services.

Each major component of the Student Center program has a prominent location in the building plan and finds useful expression on the exterior---to draw students in and welcome them to join in and stay on campus. For instance, the main informal gathering space, called the Commons, will act as an all-campus front porch facing the new lawn.

Likewise, the Fitness Center is directly above this porch on level two and opens out through a glass façade to light up the front of the new building with a vibrant slice of student life. The building is zoned to take advantage of the trellis-covered entry court to separate the more boisterous and active spaces like the event rooms and games lounge mezzanine from the quieter study and meeting spaces.

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Tidewater Community College Student Center Design

Tidewater Community College Student Center Design

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Tidewater Community College Student Center Design

Learning Space Programs

First Floor

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Second Floor

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Third Floor

Academic Conference / Study Dining / Food Service Fitness Multipurpose Gathering Child Minding Admin / Utility / Restroom

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Tidewater Community College Student Center Design

Vibrant program spaces gather students together into common activities and contribute to a sense of community and personal growth.

Tidewater Community College Student Center Design

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VMDO Architects vmdo.com | 434.296.5684 200 E Market St Charlottesville, VA 22902 1200 18th Street NW Suite 700 Washington, DC 20036

For more information on Higher Education work please contact: David Oakland, FAIA, LEED AP oakland@vmdo.com Joe Atkins, AIA, LEED AP BD+C atkins@vmdo.com