Orange Coast College Debuts $61.5M Academic Building

  • By Matt Jones
  • 10/07/21

Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, Calif., recently announced that construction is complete on a new, $61.5-million Language Arts and Social Science Building. The college partnered with C.W. Driver Companies on the facility, which measures in at three stories and 107,760 square feet. Amenities include classrooms and office space; conference rooms and support space; an ESL computer lab; pace for speech, theater and debate; and a journalism newsroom for the student newspaper.

The new facility replaces 60-year-old social sciences classrooms and the 50-year-old literature and languages building. Built with the goal of modernizing the campus and accommodating enrollment growth, the Language Arts and Social Science Building features indoor labs for psychology, economics, English, world languages and communication; indoor/outdoor labs for geography and anthropology; and storage space. The second floor features a skyway that connects the building to the adjacent Mathematics, Business and Computer Center Building.

Orange Coast College Language Arts and Social Science Building
Photo credit: PabloMasonPhotography

“With many of its original buildings dating back to the 1950s, Orange Coast College sought ground-up construction of a modern, tech-enabled facility that would bring faculty and students together from similar departments under one roof,” said Dave Amundson, project executive at C.W. Driver Companies. “The Language Arts and Social Science Building will serve nearly 25% of the campus enrollment, fostering a centralized community of learning while being adaptable to education needs for many years to come.”

According to a press release, the building was funded 50/50 by California State Proposition 51 and by Measure M, “a $698-million general obligation bond provided and supported by the local community to modernize education facilities for all universities within the Coast Community College District.”

The college also partnered with tBP Architecture for the new facility’s design.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Wenger Corporation Publishes Theater Rigging Guide

    Wenger Corporation, which provides solutions for performing arts and music education spaces, recently launched a free educational resource guide, “Rigging Guide for Performance Spaces.” The 32-page e-book is available on the company website and provides a background in the technical knowledge required to help administrators and educators make decisions in the planning process.

  • How Data Increases Community Confidence in School Facilities

    In school districts across America, the start of a new school year is met with optimism and new beginnings. But as the back-to-school excitement wears off, it recedes to the reality that many school facilities are in the same state of infrastructural decline that they’ve faced for years, if not decades, as these facilities deteriorate.

  • Texas District, Balfour Beatty Partner for Multiple Construction Projects

    General contracting, construction management, and design-build services provider Balfour Beatty recently announced that two of its joint venture teams were selected by the Crowley Independent School District (CISD) in Fort Worth, Texas, for a series of district construction projects.

  • Illinois District Breaks Ground on Two New Junior High Schools

    Joliet Public Schools District 86 in Joliet, Ill., recently began construction on two new junior high schools—the district’s first new schools since 2011, according to a news release. New facilities for Hufford Junior High School and Gompers Junior High School will serve the east and west sides of the city and be built next to their current facilities, which will be demolished after the project is complete.

Digital Edition