The new Applied Technology Center is the first project completed in a larger planned expansion of the Clovis Community College campus and provides dedicated laboratory space for career/technical programs that train students for employment in industries in the local economy. The IPP for this Applied Technology project was submitted in 2012. After 7 years on the shelf, funding became available and the District selected the design team to put immediate horsepower into developing plans for approval and construction. A primary challenge the design team had to overcome was to design teaching spaces that are specific to the current program needs but flexible enough to allow the district to easily adjust to future changes in program demands. Creating additional spaces for students to spontaneously collaborate with staff and one another while conforming to strict square feet requirements of the FPP was a secondary challenge the design overcomes by activating corridors and other interstitial space with built in furniture elements, white boards, and AV infrastructure that will provide students with “places to be” in between class time. The building includes learning spaces for occupational therapy, wastewater treatment technology, environmental engineering, food processing and safety, mechatronics, occupational therapy, and sound engineering arrayed along two wings. A sizable collaboration center, faculty offices, and quiet study spaces are located at the core of the floor plan that connects the two wings of the building. The collaboration space also opens onto a sizeable courtyard formed by the two building wings. This courtyard was designed to extend collaboration and instructional space to the exterior and will provide additional locations for staff and student interaction.

In addition to the technical career labs, the building includes general assignment instruction spaces and a dedicated sound engineering suite that supports the burgeoning humanities offerings at the college. The suite consists of an 1,800 SF collection of technical mixing rooms, performance spaces, recording equipment and control rooms, and provides an ideal acoustic environment for students to engage in the study of music creation and production, professional recording, tracking, and mixing, acoustics, and sound design. The space also provides space for students to record and produce podcasts and other non-musical audio.

Photography by: Ferrari Images