Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Suffolk County Community College: Learning Resource Center

  • 07/01/19
Suffolk County Community College 

PHOTOS © JEFFREY TOTARO

The Learning Resource Center at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood, NY, designed by ikon.5 architects, is a lantern of learning. This project was initiated to keep this largely commuter-student population from leaving campus in between classes by providing a comfortable and inspiring place to study and work collaboratively with access to faculty support services.

Diagrammatically, a simple nine-square cube deploys the 70,000-square-foot library program on two floors. Portions of the cube are removed to allow natural light to penetrate deep within the building. A central lantern houses an information commons, the collaborative learning room of the college, and rises above the roof line of the library to become a visible cupola on the campus. The center’s entry is at the confluence of major pedestrian pathways that connect surface parking lots of this commuter campus at its gateway entrance, making it very accessible to students. A ventilated terra cotta rain screen, a green contemplative roof garden for outdoor reading and study, and radiant slab heating and cooling in the central information commons are a number of sustainable strategies designed within the center.

The Learning Resource Center program provides space for both dynamic social learning afforded by the collaborative program activities of the Information Commons and the traditional quiet single scholar studying in the collection and reading room areas. Adjacent to the Information Commons is the Center for Academic Excellence and the Writing Center. This program is prominently located as an extension of the collaborative and social learning environment of the Information Commons.

The Learning Resource Center also includes classrooms, a tutoring center, media center, a faculty athenaeum, and the college board room. Public access program spaces, such as the auditorium and gallery, are located outside of library security as to permit their use beyond library operation.

This article originally appeared in the College Planning & Management July/August 2019 issue of Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • UT System Approves First Funds for New Campus

    The University of Texas System Board of Regents recently approved funds to build the first facility of a new campus in far west Fort Worth, Texas, according to university news. UTA West will serve as a branch of the University of Texas at Arlington and is scheduled to open in fall 2028.

  • Northeastern University Breaks Ground on New Housing Community

    Northeastern University recently announced the groundbreaking of a new student housing community on its campus in Boston, Mass., according to a news release. The university is partnering with American Campus Communities (ACC) for development of the project, which will have the capacity for 1,200 students and has a scheduled completion date of fall 2028.

  • University of Illinois Moves Forward with College Sports’ Largest Digital Scoreboard

    The University of Illinois in Champaign, Ill., recently announced a series of upgrades to Gies Memorial Stadium that will include the largest scoreboard in college sports, according to a news release.

  • Zurn Elkay Releases 2025 Sustainability Report

    Zurn Elkay Water Solutions recently announced the release of its annual sustainability report, according to a news release. The 2025 report discusses the organization’s efforts to maintain good environmental stewardship and the solutions provided in helping customers meet sustainability goals.