Two new Modesto Junior College buildings have received architectural design awards: the Science Community Center on west campus and the Student Services building on east campus. Both won Design Excellence Awards from the American Institute of Architects, Sierra Valley Chapter, presented as part of the International Architecture Festival in Modesto.
Construction began in May 2010 for the 23,950-square-foot Student Services project, designed by Perkins & Will. It took two years to build, at a construction cost of $7,044,800. The building consolidated a number of student services programs formerly spread throughout the campus, including admissions, records, financial aid and counseling.The two-story, steel-frame building provides a “front door” to the east campus, with a central lobby and landscaped exterior courtyard.
The massive, three-story Science Community Center, designed by Lionakis, is MJC’s largest classroom building. The 110,000-square-foot project opened in May. It took three years and $37,288,432 to build. Energy efficiency figures heavily in the building, which rests on an extra-deep foundation to stabilize the fourth-floor telescope.
The center houses MJC sciences, from anatomy to zoology. Facilities include science laboratories, lecture classrooms, a planetarium and an observatory. The Great Valley Museum will move its natural history exhibits and museum store to the first floor in 2014.
For additional information about the Modesto International Architecture Festival, go to www.modestoarchfest.com. For more on the buildings, visit www.yosemite.edu/bond/mjc.
Both projects were funded through the Yosemite Community College District’s Measure E, a $326million bond measure passed in 2004 for improvements at Columbia College, Modesto Junior College and the expansion of college education sites.The Yosemite Community College District’s Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee presented its annual report on bond spending last week.
The following Measure E projects were either completed or on track to finish this year:
• MODESTO JUNIOR COLLEGE: The library remodeling; west campus loop road and utilities update; Science Community Center and east campus student center remodeling.
• COLUMBIA COLLEGE: The Redbud allied health partnership, roadway first phase and Sequoia Building.
• CENTRAL SERVICES: The primary and secondary data centers, and the shipping and receiving plant.
article from www.modbee.com
