Suffolk County Community College: Learning Resource Center

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

  • Springfield Breaks Ground on $53.7M Pipkin Middle School Rebuild

    Construction is underway on a new, state-of-the-art Pipkin Middle School in Springfield, Mo., a major step in Springfield Public Schools’ (SPS) long-term facility improvement plan, according to local news. The $53.7-million project officially broke ground in early June, following years of planning and community input aimed at modernizing aging infrastructure and addressing student capacity concerns.

  • ProTeam Launches GoFit 6 HEPA Backpack Vacuum

    Technology leader Emerson recently introduced the new ProTeam GoFit 6 HEPA backpack vacuum, according to a news release. The vacuum was designed to capture 99.97% of particulates down to 0.3 microns—including atmospheric hazards like lead dust, mold spores, and other particulates—through an advanced filtration system.

  • California High School Starts Construction on New CTE Building

    Analy High School, part of the West Sonoma County Union High School District (WSCUHSD) in Sebastopol, Calif., recently broke ground on a new Career Technical Education (CTE) Building, according to a news release. The 15,000-square-foot facility will offer specialized facilities for students in engineering, welding, culinary arts, agricultural sciences, and design thinking.

  • modern college building with circuit and brain motifs

    Anthropic Introduces Claude for Education

    Anthropic has launched a version of its Claude AI assistant tailored for higher education institutions. Claude for Education "gives academic institutions secure, reliable AI access for their entire community," the company said, to enable colleges and universities to develop and implement AI-enabled approaches across teaching, learning, and administration.

Digital Edition