Riverside Community College District (RCCD): RCCD Coil School of the Arts

Riverside Community College District

PHOTOS COURTESY OF LPA INC./COSTEA PHOTOGRAPHY, INC.

The Centennial Plaza in Riverside, CA, designed by LPA, Inc., is a project that serves a dual purpose—to provide space for instruction and to bring the community downtown to enjoy the arts. The centerpiece of the block is the LEED Gold-certified, 36,000-square-foot Coil School of the Arts. The design includes a 450-seat music concert hall, classrooms, practice rooms, a choral room, band room, orchestra room, a piano lab, and a state-of-the-art recording studio.

Designed with acoustics as a priority, the Coil School for the Arts is the home of the renowned Riverside City College Music Department. The concert hall concept design mirrors as a musical instrument, featuring deployable wall panels, mechanized perimeter drapery, and a moveable stage cloud that can be configured to support any music genre.

The architecture expresses the nature of the building, using heavy concrete masonry for its acoustical mass properties as the main building material. On the main façade, a large cantilever provides shaded spaces for outdoor visitors and users. Glass at the lower level creates a connection of the indoor activity of people in the lobby while patterned wood laminate panels resemble the craft of wood-made musical instruments.

The district’s commitment to the arts, culture, and history through the vision of the Centennial Plaza will solidify downtown Riverside’s place as an urban center for activity, creativity, and lifelong learning.

This article originally appeared in the College Planning & Management April 2018 issue of Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • University of Connecticut Upgrades Basketball Facility’s AV Systems

    The University of Connecticut recently partnered with Metinteractive to upgrade the AV systems of the Gampel Pavilion basketball facility on its campus in Mansfield, Conn., according to a news release.

  • Texas A&M Adds ALPR Technology to Parking Solutions

    Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, recently integrated automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) technology into its parking services and enforcement strategies, according to a news release. The university’s Transportation Services division deployed Genetec AutoVu ALPR to manage the campus’ 36,000+ parking spaces.

  • Spaces4Learning Launches 2025 New Product Awards

    Spaces4Learning is now accepting entries for the 2025 New Product Awards! The program’s goal is to honor the outstanding product development achievements of manufacturers and suppliers whose products and services are particularly noteworthy in helping to improve K–12 and Higher Education learning environments.

  • Illinois Elementary School Breaks Ground on Campus Expansion

    Heather Hill Elementary School, part of Flossmoor School District 161 in Palatine, Ill., recently broke ground on a new addition to the school focused on student support and security, according to a news release. The district partnered with Wold Architects & Engineers for the expansion as part of a longer-term facility planning and modernization initiative.

Digital Edition