$36M Athletics Complex Underway at Orange Coast College

COSTA MESA, CA – Groundbreaking recently took place on the $36 million Orange Coast College (OCC) Kinesiology and Athletics Complex in Costa Mesa, CA. The three-building, 88,000-square-foot complex is one part of a broader project to revitalize and modernize OCC’s campus.

Orange Coast College

Rendering courtesy of Little Diversified Architectural Consulting

Construction for the complex, by C. W. Driver, will occur in two phases. The first phase includes new construction of a multi-building, one-story complex spanning 58,000 square feet. Phase II will focus on the renovation of the existing 30,000-square-foot building that houses the men’s and women’s locker rooms and existing pool areas.

Upon delivery, the complex will feature division offices, athletic training, adaptive physical education, equipment management, locker rooms/showers, support spaces for the aquatics programs, a 65-meter competition pool with double bulkheads, a 25-meter instructional pool, and a 450-person bleacher space covered by a canopy. The buildings will be interconnected by an overhead shade structure.

Project partners include Little Diversified Architectural Consulting.

Featured

  • Architectural Power for the Modern Campus Landscape

    For generations, an outdoor classroom only required a textbook and a patch of grass. Today, not only has the laptop replaced the printed pages, the rise of agile learning has turned campuses into study halls with students listening to lectures and researching topics from quads, gardens, and plazas. The challenge for architects and facility managers is to provide connectivity without cluttering the landscape with visual eyesores or creating safety hazards with extension cords.

  • GeoCam and UCLA: Modernizing Campus Accessibility Mapping

    In early 2025, UCLA partnered with GeoCam to capture and modernize its pedestrian infrastructure data. The goal was ambitious but clear: to produce a high-accuracy, imagery-backed digital map of every sidewalk, pathway, ramp, and ADA-related feature on UCLA’s 419-acre campus.

  • Girl Sitting at Library Desk, Using Laptop

    How Campus Design Shapes the Finals Week Experience

    Academic performance is not just about preparation. It is closely tied to how students manage stress, maintain their energy, and shift between work and recovery modes. Much of that is influenced, directly or indirectly, by design.

  • Children walking along bright school corridor with motion blur

    How Next-Gen Design Is Reshaping the Student Experience

    The environments where students learn play a crucial role in shaping their growth in and out of the classroom. By centering design on well-being, flexibility, and purpose, districts can ensure their facilities remain vibrant community assets for many years to come.