Riverside Community College District Completes $29.3M Renovation Project

Riverside City College recently announced the completion of a $29.3-million renovation project, according to a news release. The college partnered with Nineteen Six Architects and builder C.W. Driver Companies to convert a 1960s-era academic building into a new Business, Law, and Computer Information Systems Building. The project created 34,055 square feet of new learning space and took about 18 months to complete.


Ohoto courtesy of C.W. Driver Companies

Work involved demolishing all interior spaces to create new classrooms, conference rooms, testing centers, computer labs, and a multipurpose room, the news release reports. The site formerly consisted of a two-story classroom building and four-story service tower. The retrofit united the two structures via an addition on the upper level that also made space for a lobby and main entry, circulation spaces, meeting rooms, and open study spaces.

“This is our second project with the Riverside Community College District in the last couple of years. Previously we worked on the Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center at Moreno Valley College,” said Dave Amundson, C.W. Driver Companies Project Executive. “It’s another example of a repeat client that we work to grow a long-term relationship with us through new projects.”

The addition’s lower level features storefronts that provide additional interior access between the two buildings. Further new amenities include courtroom lecture space, a Cyber Security Lab, a Network Operation Center, and space for computer servers. The project was also designed according to LEED Gold Certification, the news release reports.

About the Author

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

Featured

  • Arlington High School

    Arlington High School

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. Arlington High School has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Grand Prize award in the category of New Construction.

  • Texas Recruitment

    Texas Recruitment

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. The University of Texas at Austin's Texas Recruitment has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Grand Prize award in the category of Renovation.

  • Higher Ed is Betting on New Buildings While Quietly Undermining Their Campuses — Here’s Why

    In this climate, the owner’s representative has changed from a delivery-focused advisor to a strategic campus partner. Institutions are increasingly relying on owner’s reps not just to manage, cope, schedule, and budget, but also help evaluate whether a project should proceed at all.

  • Designing for Every Mind

    Learning environments have the power to shape not just what students know, but who they become. When a school is designed with genuine empathy—for the full range of ways students think, sense, and engage with the world—it becomes more than a building. It becomes a catalyst for growth, confidence, and belonging. That is the animating idea behind neurodiverse design, and it is one that is transforming how more architects and designers are thinking about school design.