California College of the Arts Breaks Ground on New On-Campus Student Housing

In February, California College of the Arts (CCA) broke ground on new student housing in San Francisco. Designed by leading architecture firm Stanley Saitowitz | Natoma Architects Inc., the five-story building will provide much-needed, below-market-rate housing for more than 500 students—roughly 25 percent of CCA’s student body—upon its completion in 2020. The 280 rooms are CCA’s first on-campus housing in San Francisco and are positioned at the center of the school’s expanding campus.

CCA Hooper Student Housing

The building will primarily provide housing to the school’s first- and second-year students. It will include single- and multiple-occupancy units and more than 12,000 square feet of common areas, along with social and study spaces. An inviting, sunlit café on the ground floor of the building will be surrounded by floor-to-ceiling glass windows.

At the ground level, the facility includes 10,000+ additional square feet of outdoor space with landscaped, interconnected courtyards. The building also features a 400-square-foot outdoor deck on the fifth floor. The sidewalk outside the building will expand to accommodate an increase in foot traffic and landscaping. Crosswalks will be added, giving the neighborhood a more residential feel.

Featured

  • Spaces4Learning Launches 2026 Education Design Showcase Awards

    Spaces4Learning has opened submissions for the 2026 Education Design Showcase! The awards program launched in 1999 with the goal of celebrating innovative, practical solutions in the planning, design, and construction of K–12 and higher-education facilities. EDS recognizes new developments that help achieve optimal learning environments, as well as the architecture firms that brought the ideas to life.

  • NWEA Report Recommends K–12 Natural Disaster Recovery Strategies

    The Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA), a K–12 assessment and research organization, recently announced the release of a new playbook for schools and communities recovering from extreme weather events, according to a news release.

  • concentric silhouettes of a human head

    How Physical Space Shapes the Mind: Designing for Better Learning Outcomes

    Research in environmental psychology and neuroscience increasingly suggests that the way a room is designed can influence memory, focus, or even a student's sense of belonging.

  • California K–12 District Completes Elementary School Campus Replacement

    The West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD) in Richmond, Calif., recently announced the completion of a replacement campus for Lake Elementary School, according to a news release. The school has capacity for 470 students between Transitional Kindergarten (TK) and sixth grade.