The design challenge for Gotama Building Engineers with Pierce College’s new Student Services Building was to provide the electrical, lighting, mechanical systems and low-flow plumbing fixtures, now standardized in the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD), without marring the Mediterranean style inherent in the campus vernacular.

A three-story, 60,000 sf building convenient to the main Pedestrian Mall, the tile-roofed building faces onto a courtyard, with shading trees and a water feature that cools the outdoor area, while large window openings in the atrium covered by an overhang increase air flow throughout. In order to minimize the requirement for HVAC and promote LEED goals for this building, custom air handling units were hidden by the roofline, while mechanical equipment was cleverly concealed by the mansard roof. To make the best of the existing central plant and continue to honor the architectural lines of the building, point-of-use instantaneous electric water heating was specified, so as to avoid aesthetically unappealing distribution piping and storage tanks while maintaining high standards for energy conservation. This building is one of the fourteen buildings in the LACCD system singled out by the Southern California Gas Company for its Savings by Design Award.

Client: Pierce College, Los Angeles Community College District
Architect: WWCOT
Location: Woodland Hills, CA
Completion: 2007