Mesa Community College - Physical Science Building

Physical Science Building Mesa Community College Higher Education Exterior Architecture Mesa Arizona SmithGroup
Physical Science Building Mesa Community College Higher Education Exterior Architecture Mesa Arizona SmithGroup
Physical Science Building Mesa Community College Higher Education Interior Architecture Mesa Arizona SmithGroup
Physical Science Building Mesa Community College Higher Education Interior Classroom Architecture Mesa Arizona SmithGroup
Physical Science Building Mesa Community College Higher Education Interior Architecture Mesa Arizona SmithGroup
Physical Science Building Mesa Community College Higher Education Interior Architecture Mesa Arizona SmithGroup
Physical Science Building Mesa Community College Higher Education Exterior Architecture Mesa Arizona SmithGroup

The Physical Science Building at Mesa Community College changes the way science facilities can be designed and planned for at two-year colleges.

Client

Mesa Community College

Location

Mesa, Arizona

Markets/Services

Architecture, Higher Education, Interiors, MEP Engineering, Programming, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math), Sustainable Design

Size

64,480 SF

Featured Awards

Institutional Buildings Award, Honorable Mention ASHRAE Technology Award, 2010

AIA Western Mountain Region, Distinguished Building Award, 2009

LEED Gold

View All Awards

Masonry Architectural Awards, Arizona Masonry Guild Excellence, 2009

Metal Architecture, Sustainable Design Award, 2009

 

The Physical Science Building breaks the mold of traditional community college design by providing multiple venues both inside and out, while facilitating social encounters to create an environment that promotes better connectivity.

SmithGroup’s design of the four-story building is 64,480 and occupies a prominent place on campus with architecture that is commensurate with its location. As students enter from the campus interior, they are met with a transparent glass entrance that houses the student tutoring space, shaded against the desert sun through metal panels.

 

Mesa Community College Physical Science Building Architecture Entrance Higher Education Mesa Arizona SmithGroup

Metal panels on the exterior help protect from the sunlight and reflect the building's location. 

 

Upon entering, a three-story day-lit lobby organizes the building’s components and provides socialization and informal study spaces. The opposite side of the building is reflective of the desert location, with a metal stairway and integrated solar-shading system that promotes the building’s programing. In a strategic partnership with a local utility company, a large array of solar panels supply energy to the complex. Classroom and laboratory spaces are generously daylit, utilizing the college’s southwestern location.

 

Mesa Community College Physical Science Building Architecture Exterior Higher Education Mesa Arizona SmithGroup

A metal stairway connects the interior and exterior to facilitate better connectivity among students.  

 

Materials used throughout the building include silver metal paneling, terra cotta and graphite-colored steel that lend a modernist industrial look throughout the entire complex. Metal shading extrudes from building walls, creating a dramatic shadow effect. Unique for a community college, a metal-sheathed 53-seat planetarium is located on the building’s exterior, building intrigue to outsiders on the learning taking place within.

The Mesa Community College Physical Science Building facilitates the kind of causal, out-of-classroom learning, while providing indoor and outdoor venues for collaborative learning.