tcc student center print final photography.indd

TIDEWATER COMMUNITY COLLEGENEW STUDENT CENTER FOR VIRGINIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM

TIDEWATER COMMUNITY COLLEGE - CHESAPEAKE CAMPUS - STUDENT CENTER

Community colleges are leading the effort to educate and retrain

an incredible number of Americans to meet the challenges of an

ever-changing world. A new student center can play a pivotal role

on community college campuses to broaden on-campus learning,

to enhance institutional identity, and to reach out to the distinct

needs of the community college population.

KEEPING STUDENTS ON CAMPUS

Some of the most important learning takes place outside of the

classroom. Forecasting the right mix of amenities and programs

to keep busy, commuter students on campus is a challenge—but

defi nes the success of a good community college student center.

A rich mix of uses can bring together the remarkably diverse body

of students that attend community college. The design should

strategically locate the building’s program to support the kind of

student interaction and development that keeps them active—

and learning—on campus.

CREATING A STRONGER SENSE OF IDENTITY

(Emphasizing Both “College” + “Community”)

A new student center can mark a bold transition to a more

collegiate campus. Unlike a typical campus academic building,

a successful student center needs a more extroverted focus and

expression. By projecting the building’s lively activity to the

outside, the student center can draw students in and contribute an

attractive new image that enhances a sense of both campus culture

and community.

REACHING OUT TO THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENT

With one foot in the academic world, and the other fi rmly planted

in the realities of working adulthood or the fi nancial strains of

higher education, many community college students balance

a wide range of responsibilities. Specifi c programs (like child-

minding) offered in a community college student center serve this

unique population and provide the resources to meet students in

the ways they need to succeed.


CAMPUS PLANNING + SITE STRATEGIESThe Student Center project was concurrently designed and built with a new academic

building project. The two projects have been considered in combination for campus

planning purposes. This approach led to a “Precinct Plan” that included proposed sites

for the two buildings, new parking, extended campus infrastructure, and the fi rst portion

of a future quadrangle or central green space. The Precinct Plan focused on key campus

goals: concentrating parking along the perimeter of campus and organizing future

building sites around an open green.

The new student center site takes advantage of its position fronting both the new campus

green space as well as a distinctive, tidal wetland landscape to the north feeding the

Elizabeth River. The building’s recreation spaces and café will spill out to a lively terrace

edging this unique wetland---engaging the special portion of campus at the heart of their

designation as an Audubon sanctuary. The shaded entry court acts as an outdoor atrium

for the new building and will frame a campus-wide portal that extends views and a path

out into this remarkable landscape. By replacing a small amount of existing parking,

the new green space can extend from the new building entry ways to the two existing

campus buildings---as a safe, pleasant, collegiate landscape connection.

ACADEMIC

SERVICE DRIVE

EXISTING CHANNEL

EXISTING POND

CONSTRUCTED STORM WATER

WETLAND

STUDENT CENTER

WETLANDS

EXTERIOR ELEMENTS + MATERIALSAs the fi rst corner of an ambitious build-out for a growing campus, this project needs to stand confi dently both in the interim, as a promise

of things to come, and in the future, as an appropriate companion to a signifi cant new construction including a Performing Arts building and

Learning Resource Center. The design for the building’s exterior refl ects these expectations while also trying to establish a more collegiate

campus architectural character and to frame, highlight, and respect the unique wetland landscape to the north.

A glazed colonnade at the building’s fi rst fl oor combines with a grand second fl oor “window-box” and a metal roofed third fl oor attic story.

Modest roof terraces off the third fl oor event spaces offer another way to showcase activity inside. Careful use of curtain wall, translucent

panels, and storefront glazing on the south and north faces of the building takes advantage of the best opportunities for views in and out, as well

as optimal solar management. South facing glass is shaded with integrated sun-screens or overhangs.

The north facing café opens to even, indirect light and an outdoor dining deck near a constructed storm water wetland and amenity pond. The

distinctive, natural setting of the campus wetland sanctuary suggested selective use of wood as an interior material that can be seen from the

outside through the glass. The warmth that wood ceiling decking gives is desirable in the main gathering spaces of the building, particularly in

the games mezzanine and café, where it adds to a boardwalk that extends the entry portal into the landscape.


CONTEXTTCC is the second largest of the 23 community colleges in

Virginia, enrolling more than 37,000 students annually. With

ambitious goals for each regional campus, TCC is becoming

a national model of a comprehensive community college for

the 21st Century---through its commitments to open access,

cultural diversity, lifelong learning, and a comprehensive

range of programs and services enlivened by partnerships

and proactive responses to change.

Forty-fi ve percent of the region’s residents who attended a

college or university in Virginia last fall were enrolled at TCC.

The college continues to grow as the choice of the region’s

students beginning their baccalaureate program. With this

trend in mind, the Student Center project highlights a new

dedication to promoting student success. By providing a

student-friendly campus “living room” with wide range of

social, recreational, and service spaces, TCC will promote

a sense of belonging—and with it, a sense of pride in the

college and a connection between fellow students.

...\1040_Plans combined.dgn 2/17/2012 1:44:06 PM

COMMONS

MULTI PURPOSE EVENT ROOM A

MULTI PURPOSE EVENT ROOM B

STORAGE

STORAGE

MECHANICAL

BOOKS

MENS

WOMENS

SERVICE

FOOD SERVICE

SERVERY

COFFEE /BAGELS

ELEC

WEST STAIR

INFO DESK

DINING

DINING TERRACE

TODDLERSINFANTS

CHILDREN

CHECK IN

DIR.

ASSIT DIR

MEETING SEMINAR

STORAGE

STORAGE

MTG

MTG

B

G

ENTRY PORTAL

TO THE WETLANDS BEYOND

FITNESSCENTER

LOCKERS

LOC

KER

S

OPEN TO BELOW

GAMES LOUNGE

OVERLOOK TO DINING BELOW

MDF

WOMEN

E STOR

STOR

WOMEN

WEST STAIR

STUDY MEETING LOUNGE STUDY MEETING

CONF / MEETINGSTUDY

VENDING

STUDY

LOUNGE

WOKR AREA

STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS

EAST STAIR

IDF

SGA

PTK

ELEVLOBBY

ELEV LOBBY

STUDY MEETING

STUDY

MULTI PURPOSE EVENT

CATERING SUPPSTOR

EASTSTAIR

STUDY MEETING

MEN

WOMEN

TERRACE OVERLOOK TO WETLANDS

TERRACETERRACE

MULTI PURPOSE MEETING A + B

OFFICE

OFFICESTOR

EAST STAIR

MECH EQUIP

ROOF BELOWROOFBELOW

ROOF BELOW

TRELLIS

STAIR TO DINING

MAIN LEVEL FLOOR PLAN

SECOND LEVEL FLOOR PLAN

THIRD LEVEL FLOOR PLAN

EAST STAIR

STUDY LOUNGE

VESTIBULE

VESTIBULE

VESTIBULE

SERVICEDOCK

ELEVLOBBY

ELEVLOBBY

PROGRAMThis Student Center will be a focal point,

a crossroads, and a gathering place for

students, faculty and visitors at the College.

The building will contain student activity

and recreation spaces, lounge / study areas,

meeting rooms, a café / food service venue,

a range of multi-purpose event rooms

with movable walls for student events and

conferencing, a fi tness center, a fl exible

space for student organizations, and an area

dedicated to child minding services.

Each major component of the Student Center

program has a prominent location in the

building plan and fi nds useful expression

on the exterior---to draw students in and

welcome them to join in and stay on

campus. For instance, the main informal

gathering space, called the Commons, will

act as an all-campus front porch facing the

new lawn. Likewise, the Fitness Center is

directly above this porch on level two and

opens out through a glass façade to light up

the front of the new building with a vibrant

slice of student life. The building is zoned to

take advantage of the trellis-covered entry

court to separate the more boisterous and

active spaces like the event rooms and

games lounge mezzanine from the quieter

study and meeting spaces.

THIRD FLOOR

SECOND FLOOR

FIRST FLOOR


The new student center site takes advantage of its position

fronting both the new campus green space as well as a

distinctive, tidal wetland landscape to the north feeding

the Elizabeth River. The building’s recreation spaces and

café will spill out to a lively terrace edging this unique

wetland---engaging the special portion of campus at the

heart of their designation as an Audubon sanctuary.


200 E MARKET STREET PH : 434.296.5684 FX : 434.296.4496 www.vmdo.com

tcc student center print final photography.indd

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