The Oxnard College Performing Arts Classroom & Auditorium was cited as a campus beacon with the ability to increase positive enrollment.
MVE Institutional, a planning, architecture and interiors firm specializing in educational, institutional and civic facilities, was recently awarded with the Award of Honor in the Project-in-Design Phase Category at the 2006 Community College Facility Coalition Professional Design Awards for the design of the Oxnard College Performing Arts Classroom & Auditorium. The project is located at College, which is one of the three campuses at Ventura County Community College District, was cited by award jurors for its “inviting entrance” and ability to influence positive enrollment at the College. The design project will be the new home to the Oxnard College Performing Arts Program and Oxnard College Television.
The Oxnard College Performing Arts Classroom & Auditorium totals 26,500 square feet and includes a 400-seat auditorium and a 100-seat black box theater. Additional classrooms and support spaces are designed to consolidate various programs that are relevant to the program. The new multi-use complex is slated for completion in Fall 2009 and will be the College’s largest capacity lecture hall and auditorium space. It will serve as a major campus design statement and icon, emphasized by its prominent location at the corner of Rose Avenue and North Campus Road which is visible from both the campus side and the street.
One of the CCFC 2006 Jurors noted, “The large glass lobby provides an inviting entrance to the building. The performing arts building is going to add a beacon to this campus and community that says, ‘Welcome, we want you here.’ It’s going to be a center of focal point to the campus and hopefully it will provide expansion of enrollment.”
MVE Institutional designed the complex to complement and enhance the interior campus green spaces, as well as to be sensitive to the existing and newly planned buildings. The site includes an outdoor plaza; its relationship with adjacent and future buildings serves to create a distinguishable and centralized “Courtyard for the Arts” on campus. The complex was also designed to activate all of its sides, drawing in both target constituencies – students and the general public.
The building’s design and program also embraces sustainable building practices and “green” technology. Concrete block with a high recycled content will contribute to the building exterior, while also achieving effective thermal and noise insulation. Kalwall transparent wall systems and glazing with louvered sunscreens will transmit natural light into production and office spaces, even those requiring privacy. Lastly, the large angled roofs will enable a variety of potential energy saving measures ranging from integrated photovoltaic systems to rainwater collection systems that can water the surrounding indigenous landscaping.
“This project is representative of what MVE Institutional strives for in all of its work,” says Bob Simons, Principal with MVE Institutional. “In designing the Oxnard College Performing Arts Classroom & Auditorium, our design team sought to create a meaningful space for all student and public participants, thus enhancing the Community College as well as the surrounding community.”
The CCFC Professional Design Awards are presented annually by the Community College Facility Coalition in conjunction with California Community College Chancellor’s Office. The Annual Conference is held in Sacramento in November each year.
About MVE Institutional
MVE Institutional is an architectural planning and design firm that provides new construction, expansion and modernization program design solutions for educational and civic clients. The firm’s specialized institutional expertise includes collaboration with both private and public entities including school districts, colleges and universities, local governments, transportation authorities, and redevelopment agencies. With a particular emphasis on local community context and sustainability, MVE Institutional is dedicated to the creation of meaningful spaces that address the needs of both the community and the individual. MVE Institutional maintains an office in both Irvine and Oakland, California.