Fentress' solution is an architecturally-unified set of buildings that now serves as a welcoming front door to the community college.
Skyline Community College sought to co-locate a variety of program elements within two new buildings: a Student Union and Science Annex. Fentress’ solution is an architecturally-unified, welcoming front door for the community college, which is part of the San Mateo County Community College District.
The Student Union is home to a new bookstore, cafeteria with support kitchen, meeting rooms, a community services center, student activities offices, and student lounge areas. Meanwhile, the new Science Annex accommodates the modern needs of the Biology and Chemistry Departments including wet labs.
These buildings were among the first completed under the design-build provisions of California’s Education Code 81700. In addition to significantly reducing the construction schedule and overall project budget, this procurement method also allowed for enhanced partnership and co-creation between the design-build team and college faculty, staff, and student representatives.