Los Angeles Harbor College Science Complex

Project Details

Project Description

The 73,767-square-foot Los Angeles Harbor College Science Complex, designed by HGA Architects and Engineers, 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.

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 LEED® Platinum 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.

“By making science more accessible throughout the architecture, the Science Complex quite literally weaves the campus and building fabric into each other,” said Satoshi Teshima, AIA, LEED AP, Senior Project Designer with HGA. “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.”