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1997 design awards

Honor Award

Juror's Comment:
"Monumental scale with a refined elegance."

Project Description:
This 340,000 s.f. facility is the fourth campus in the Tarrant County Junior College System. The design concept of a single building campus reflects the District's educational philosophy of achieving synergy through the interaction of various departments and disciplines. The close proximity of differing departments will allow a sharing of resources and a cross-pollination of information.

Students are also exposed to various disciplines and activities while attending classes. It is hoped this will broaden the students' interests and increase enrollment, in effect letting the building market the curriculum.

A single building campus also reflects the District's desire to lower first costs and operating costs. First costs are reduced because of the lessened area of the building envelope inherent in this concept versus a multi-structure campus. A single building campus reduces the loss of conditioned air associated with a traditional multi-building campus during class changes, reducing operating costs.

Glazing, lighting and graphics are utilized to increase the visibility of the various departments. The building is organized along a major east-west corridor punctuated with clerestories which allow natural light into the heart of the building. The immense length of the corridor is broken down to a human scale by establishing a rhythm of bays articulated by pilaster and ceiling furrings integrated with cove lighting. Atrium areas, lit by clerestory glazing interrupt this treatment, periodically setting up a larger architectural pattern within the circulation system.

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