Los Angeles Harbor College Science Complex Wins SCUP Excellence in Architecture Honor Award

LOS ANGELES - April 26, 2016 - PRLog -- Los Angeles Harbor College Science Complex, designed by HGA Architects and Engineers (HGA), has won a SCUP AIA-CAE Excellence in Architecture Honor Award for New Building.

Opened in August 2013, the 73,767-square-foot, LEED® Platinum Science Complex offers optimal learning environments for the Physical Sciences, Life Sciences and Family & Consumer Studies programs while integrating sustainable technology that sets new benchmarks for energy efficiency.

"College campuses are incubators for research, innovation and new technology that enhance the learning experience," said James Matson, AIA, vice president and principal with HGA. "Design-forward projects such as the Science Complex allow colleges to shape the future of learning by transforming classrooms and common spaces into active learning environments that engage students in the sciences."

The L-shaped building includes a three-story wing housing state-of-the-art laboratories and a two-story wing housing interactive classrooms, offices, and student lounges. An outdoor classroom, open-air corridors and science courtyard blend indoor-outdoor spaces while a various-patterned façade reflects contextual and natural biological patterns to create a dynamic campus gateway from adjacent parking. Plaster and brick, for instance, complement existing campus material, while fenestration and corrugated-metal panels in different tones contextually recall the nearby Port of Los Angeles and suggest DNA sequencing patterns as rooftop photovoltaic (PV) panels cast shadows across the façade and courtyard.

The Science Complex additionally integrates many sustainable strategies that place science on display, including building-integrated photovoltaic panels connected to the campus PV system, occupancy-sensor lighting, natural ventilation and daylight, energy-efficient windows, integrated building systems that respond to weather and daylight conditions, energy-recovery system that converts exhaust air into energy and classroom monitors that track energy production/usage from the PVs.

"The SCUP Honor Award recognizes the role architecture plays in shaping the student experience and improving learning outcomes," said Satoshi Teshima, AIA, LEED AP, senior project designer with HGA. "By making science more accessible throughout the architecture, the Science Complex quite literally weaves the campus and building fabric into each other. The building becomes a backdrop and stage for campus activity and science learning as open gathering spaces and exterior corridors bring students and faculty to the forefront. It has been a great privilege to work with L.A. Harbor College on this project and we are thrilled to win the Honor Award."

The Science Complex previously won the AIA Long Beach/South Bay Citation Award, the Community College Facility Coalition Growth Honor Award, the Southern California Development Forum Design Award, and the Los Angeles Business Council Architecture Award.
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The Society of College and University Planning (SCUP) awards program recognizes design and planning excellence in higher education. The award jurors will highlight the winning projects in a concurrent session at SCUP-51 (http://www.scup.org/page/eventsandeducation/annualconf/51...), the Annual International Conference in Vancouver, BC, July 9-13, 2016.