Mid-century Design Meets Modern Performance
California State University, Los Angeles, Student Services Building
In 2017, ZGF was asked to perform seismic upgrades and basic tenant improvements to a mid-century concrete building on the California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) campus. Originally built in 1972, the building was left damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake and sat vacant for nearly 20 years until ZGF was tasked with getting it fit for use. Built originally as a physical science building, Cal State LA initially asked for the 50-year-old structure to be converted into swing space for the University’s administrative and student services groups while a new building was being constructed.
The ZGF team had a different vision. Rather than proceeding with the ask, our team asked, “What if?” What if the most sustainable building on campus, from environmental impact and energy usage to providing a healthy indoor environment, is created from this original structure? What if a building that not only supports the programs, but also creates a healing environment for students is designed? What if the new environment created in this aging building is simply so good that Cal State LA does not want to build a new building at all?
ZGF’s feasibility study revealed that, with a thoughtful design approach rooted in creating an exceptional user experience, this building could become permanent home for Cal State LA’s administration and student services operations. The savings on time, budget, and embodied carbon were undeniable and the University quickly agreed to move forward with this new direction.
Location
Los Angeles, CA
Square Feet
218,000
Completion date
2021
Project Component
Architecture services
Interior design and space planning
Environmental graphic design
The original mid-century modern brise-soleil is well-suited to mitigate solar heat gain and was kept, allowing the patina of the building’s past life to be preserved.
All but the concrete brise-soleil, interior columns, and slabs were demolished to make way for an entirely new program that’s finely tuned for the building’s new use. Interior improvements successfully eliminated departmental silos and united student-focused services through enhanced collaboration between administrative departments. The thoughtful reprogramming resulted in a supportive, harmonious environment where both students and staff can thrive. The building now houses a large lecture hall, conference rooms, workrooms, lounge settings, open offices, and other ancillary spaces to support the following divisions: Student Life, Academic Affairs, Administration and Finance, University Advancement, and the President’s Office.
The custom designed mural that spans the lobby features a mosaic depiction of the Los Angeles skyline. Paying homage to the University’s logo and colors, the mural can be seen from across campus through the double-height windows on the ground floor.
Designed to be supportive and sympathetic to the student experience, healthcare design concepts were leveraged to create programming and circulation paths that are easily navigable, engaging, and conducive to a stress-free experience. On the first floor, a one-stop triage concept provides a healthcare consumer inspired experience. The open area just beyond the main lobby entrance features a one-stop-shop opportunity for students to present their questions, from registration and tuition payments to parking, and be directed to the right department to address their needs on the upper levels.
The open, connected student service triage and lounge settings provide students a dynamic environment to take care of academic related business.
Symbiotic, yet distinct ecosystems define the programming and design on the upper levels. Student services floors are organized on levels two through four, while administrative floors are designated to levels five through eight—each complete with its own set of interconnecting stairs to create a dynamic, connected environment. Once students are triaged on the ground level, they are directed up the interconnecting stair to the student ecosystem for further assistance.
Environmental graphics strategically placed along the staircases encourage students to take the stairs. With step counts and elevation heights marked at each level, the graphics celebrate Angelino hiking culture.
The student ecosystem features in-between spaces that support campus life. These spaces are intended to create a positive campus experience by promoting connectivity and inclusivity, with a variety of quiet and collaborative spaces to support different styles of studying and socializing. Student lounge and study areas, spaces for one-on-one or group tutoring, and multi-purpose outdoor tables serve a dual-purpose: to foster socially formative experiences and to make the experience of waiting enjoyable. By evoking feelings of support and by providing a vibrant, engaging environment for students as they navigate the business side of academia, positive feelings towards the experience are developed—a sensibility intended to encourage lifelong learning.
Bold wayfinding and environmental graphics add visual interest, while easing the challenges of navigating a new environment.
The finance department features unprecedented levels of natural light for this space type to make a stressful responsibility feel bright and airy.
Students can choose from lounge, group, or conference room-style collaboration in this pre-function space on the third floor that features a cube-shaped meeting room covered in custom environmental graphics.
With the density of programs going into the building and an existing frame to stay within, a network of vertical connections was installed by punching large holes at the center of each floor. Doubling as a strategy to update the building seismically, these openings encourage physical activity and create a level of transparency within the building to display to students the network of support and community available to them.
Staff access their floors in the administration ecosystem via badge-controlled destination dispatch elevators. Each floor includes a public portal entrance from the center of the floor, and a separate back-of-house entrance from the exit stairs, providing staff a safe and separate circulation route when privacy is needed. The interior design language established in the student ecosystem is carried into the administrative levels, but with an elevated twist. Sophisticated finishes and furnishings in the staff break room create an elevated environment for employees to connect.
In partnership with AtelierTen, extensive daylighting studies and circadian assessments were performed to ensure the placement of workstations and the orientation of furniture lends itself to optimized circadian stimulus. The studies revealed that placing workstations along the perimeter of the floorplate allowed the wellness benefits of circadian lighting exposure to be maximized, while orienting the workstations perpendicular to the wall minimizes glare. The expansive vistas extend to the horizon, encompassing the sight of rolling green hills, the distinctive downtown skyline, and Los Angeles’s iconic sunsets.
Additionally, the results of the daylighting studies prescribe a layout conducive to reduced energy loads. Coupled with the replacement of all mechanical systems, the building achieves impressive energy reductions in the following categories: cooling, heating, ventilation, and lighting. The result is a building that operates with 32% less energy than the average for this building type, as defined by the ASHRAE 90.1-2010 baseline. When banked with the embodied carbon savings from reusing rather than building new, this LEED Gold® adaptive reuse project makes the case that design for user experience and exemplary high performance can exist under one 50-year-old roof.
