Boston Community College Debuts Student Success Center

Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of a new Student Success Center on its campus in Boston, Mass., according to a news release. The 56,000-square-foot building is the college’s first new facility in more than ten years, and it plays home to the College Library & Learning commons, academic advising, coaching, and wraparound services to support students.

The university partnered with NBBJ as the project architect and the State’s Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance (DCAMM) and Bond Building and Construction for planning, engineering, and construction. The news release reports that all of the college’s buildings but one are about 50 years old and were designed to accommodate about 5,000 students. The campus has since tripled its student population and has seen an accumulation of deferred maintenance issues.

“Today, we are celebrating a new space that will benefit BHCC’s student community now and for years to come, improving their experience and maximizing the resources available to them,” said Massachusetts Secretary of Education Patrick Tutwiler. ”I want to share a strong congratulations to the BHCC leadership team and the entire student community for nurturing this project forward.”

The building was designed to be Net-Zero-Energy-ready, based on Passive House principles and including sustainability features like a geothermal well field on-campus, a future photovoltaic array, and a “highly insulated, high-performing envelope,” according to the news release.

“It is our genuine pleasure to deliver the space that your students deserve,” said DCAMM Commissioner Baacke. “Your students, faculty, and staff have been creating transformative experiences for 50 years, and they’ve been doing that despite the facilities. Now, they'll be doing it with the facilities that help make their jobs easier and not harder.”

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Surging Demand for Student Housing Fuels Major Campus Investment Opportunities

    University leaders throughout the U.S. are accelerating plans to modernize and expand student housing as enrollment stabilizes and demand for on-campus living rebounds. Recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics indicates that total postsecondary enrollment is projected to grow through the end of the decade, with undergraduate enrollment alone expected to increase by more than 8 percent by 2030.

  • Wold Architects & Engineers Acquires VPS Architecture

    Full-service planning, architecture, and engineering firm Wold Architects & Engineers recently announced that it has acquired VPS Architecture, according to a news release. The move will help strengthen Wold’s education and public-sector design expertise, industries in which both companies have strong pre-existing ties and relationships.

  • Florida District Completes Construction on New Leadership Institute

    Pinellas County Schools near Tampa, Fla., recently announced that construction is complete on the new Dr. Michael A. Grego Leadership Institute, according to a news release. The district partnered with Rowe Architects for the project’s design and with Skanska for construction services.

  • University of Kansas Breaks Ground on Entrepreneurship Hub

    The University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kan., recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new KU Entrepreneurship Hub, according to university news. The Hub is part of the university’s School of Business and will include spaces for experiential learning and programming.