ACCD Northwest Vista College

In answer to explosive demand for college level education in San Antonio, the area’s colleges and universities are undertaking ambitious expansions. And, none faster than the Alamo Community College District. Answering the call, Alamo Architects was selected to direct the planning and development process for a major expansion to Northwest Vista College, a commuter school situated on rolling hills outside the city’s center.

Client> Alamo Community College District
Construction Cost> $80 million
Projected Completion> July 2009

New Campus Master Plan & Capital Improvement Program

Alamo Architects crafted the New Campus Master Plan for Northwest Vista College in 2005 and was subsequently selected to be the lead architectural firm for the implementation of the College's 450,000 square foot expansion program.

Campus Master Plan

Northwest Vista College, originally built in 1997 for 3,300 students, has today grown to support an enrollment of more than 10,000. In implementing the Master Plan for this rapidly-growing campus, Alamo Architects brought design expertise in working with community colleges, a historical perspective of this particular campus, and continuity of the planning process that was required to bring the new Campus Master Plan to life. Alamo Architects' Master Plan demonstrates creativity and practical solutions. The primary goal was to make the campus a place of learning and enlightenment, as well as a distinctive community landmark. The new campus design establishes clear concepts for circulation and parking at the Northwest Vista College Campus. Among the guiding principles established, several elements were prioritized:

• Preservation and celebration of the native landscape.
• Development of a more natural connection between the buildings and the landscape.
• Creation of a campus with the characteristics of a university and the convenience of a community college.

Capital Improvement Program

Embodying these principles today is a dynamic new campus with five new buildings, additional parking areas, and a dramatic new lake at the campus core, which also serves to capture storm runoff that is used for irrigation. The new campus has a less formal structure and more color and diversity in its architectural palette. The newly created outdoor student spaces activate the new and existing public areas which promotes student interaction and collaboration. The New buildings by Alamo Architects on the Northwest Vista College campus include the Palmetto Fine & Performing Arts Center, Redbud Library & Learning Resources building Juniper Academic Hall, and the renovation of Huisache Hall into the new Huisache Health & Wellness Center.

Redbud Learning Center

The Redbud Learning Center is approximately 41,000 square feet and includes a library, computer classrooms and a cyber café.

The college library is the anchor building for the west end of the campus master plan, which Alamo Architects designed in 2004. The library has large expanses of glass on three sides, providing three different experiences for library users. The cyber-café end fronts Lago Vista, a new lake that is at the center of campus. The quietest area overlooks a landscaped area that gently slopes into the waterfront. The reference area and its seating is adjacent to a new courtyard that will be used by students and faculty and leads to a bridge that crosses the lake.

The 12,000-square-foot main reading room/stack area includes 75 computer stations, five group study rooms, 20 quiet study carrels, a variety of casual seating and 3,000 linear feet of shelving. Overlooking the double-height space is a mezzanine that includes a computer lab and additional study areas. The administration office spaces include seven offices, a large conference room, a break room, a work room and a technical services room. The top floor of this building is given over to classrooms.

The library draws its design from the masonry, stucco, glazing and metal panels that make up the palette of the existing campus.  For example, the campus sports large metal hipped roofs - the design of the new structures takes this imagery and gives it a new twist. At the top of the large expanses of glass are soaring roof eaves that point up, not down. Also crowning the third floor is another upward looking roof. The cyber café, lower in volume, has a roof that is expressive of this energy yet simple in its construction. This roof will shelter that café and provide a variety of outdoor seating for the students. Across the lake, the future buildings will complete this new direction for the campus.

Juniper Hall Academic Center

The Juniper Hall Academic Center, is approximately 77,000 square feet and includes a Learning Lab, computer classrooms, and faculty suites.

This Academic Center is the transition building between the old campus and the new campus master plan, which Alamo Architects designed in 2004. Alamo Architects took their cues from the existing architecture. Juniper Hall responds to the vocabulary in place and starts the evolution of the new campus vocabulary.

The Lake Level houses the main computer lab for the entire campus. Located at a major pedestrian crossroads, this space has glass on three sides and a distinctive roof that is a visual cue for students to gather at this Learning Lab. The vertical circulation element for Juniper is pulled away from the building slightly as a visual terminus for one of these axes. That path continues across a pedestrian bridge over the new Lago Vista, towards the east end of campus.

The main classroom floors contain 35 classrooms, organized around central service cores. These center portions are where we located the computer labs specific to each discipline. Levels one and two also contain faculty suites, which is a new collaborative prototype for Northwest Vista. Each suite has views overlooking a green space and the new lake.

Palmetto Fine & Performing Arts Center

The Palmetto Fine & Performing Arts Center, is approximately 65,000 square feet and includes a Theater, Black Box, Music Suite, Fine Arts Wing, and a faculty suite.

This Arts Center is the ultimate building in the new campus master plan which Alamo Architects designed in 2004.

Alamo Architects evolved a new architectural vocabulary from what was in place. This campus imagery culminates in this final structure. Alamo took cues from the existing landforms of the 100 acre site. A natural low spot became a campus lake, and a natural rise was transformed into a campus green, with this building at its apex.

Being located at the eastern edge of the campus, this building has a public entry for Performances that are open to the community. This building was conceived as a community building with public performances, as well as a Learning facility for the students. Dance, Music, Drama and the Performing Arts all have spaces that open to the main foyer. This foyer is the face of the building that opens onto the new campus green, looking down the hill to the new Lake. The foyer is designed as a pre & post-function space, also containing gallery space for the Fine Arts students' work. Alamo took advantage of the volume of the fly tower to use it as a marquee for the building.