Residential and institutional space can be seen as two ends of a spectrum between the intimate and public realms: mutually exclusive in scale and interaction between inhabitants. However, for the project team behind the Anna W. Ngai Alumni Center at California State University Long Beach, the challenge was creating a space that struck a balance between the two. “[CSULB’s] concept for this alumni center was that it would feel very domestic,” says John Friedman, FAIA, co-founder and principal of the Los Angeles firm John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects. “They had this vision of something between institutional and domestic and [the challenge was] finding that sweet spot.”
The resulting 5,500-square-foot project rises from the demolition of the 1957 Soroptimist House, one of the first buildings constructed on the campus and home to its first student union. Built in the Midcentury California Ranch style with a domestic scale that severely limited capacity, the Soroptimist House was knocked down in 2019 following deferred maintenance and earthquake damage.
JFAK was not only tasked with providing an institutionally functional yet inviting space, but also one that would respond to CSLUB’s unique Midcentury architecture. The new building is clad in aluminum and topped with pitched roofs that stand as tribute to the California style, as well as the campus's beloved Walter Pyramid arena located nearby. Friedman describes the roofs as a “play off Midcentury, but in a kind of newish way looking toward the future.” Entry to the lobby is framed by an extrusion of one of these roof forms, which is pierced by skylight apertures and functionally acts as the building’s porch, a reference to its predecessor's residential nature.
As a contemporary touch, the edge between roof and façade creates a seamless “vertical articulation,” thanks to the continuous cladding and recessed gutters. Apertures on the façade of this timber structure are carved out with chamfers, revealing the glazing and simulated wood siding to “give some relief to the metal…bringing in this sculptural cut or carving,” Friedman says.
In terms of plan, rooms are organized orthogonally, interrupted by a diagonal corridor that connects the lobby and boardrooms with the more private gathering spaces and the patio in the rear. The sky-lit corridor serves as a campus archive with various memorabilia from over the years, its axis ceremoniously terminating at the statue of former CSULB mascot, Prospector Pete.
In the rear, the gathering spaces, which Friedman says are described as “living rooms” by the school, are also residential in nature. At the center of the space, a large, Texas limestone-clad fireplace adds warmth to the space by serving as its hearth. Large glass sliding doors, which minimize the threshold between these interior gathering spaces and the courtyard and allow gatherings to take full advantage of the SoCal climate, prove another unusual residential touch. “When do you ever see sliding doors in an institutional building?” Friedman asks. “Not very often.”
Since its completion in 2022, the project’s comfortable areas have offered an invaluable gathering space for the campus community. For Friedman, the project has demonstrated the firm’s mission for their community inspired work: “[We want] to encourage people to talk, especially if it’s people that don’t ordinarily talk with each other.”
