The new Allied Health Sciences building is located at the Higher Education Center (HEC) in National City, CA, a satellite campus to Southwestern College in Chula Vista, CA. The new 22,500 SF facility includes classrooms and labs in support of the college’s health sciences program, dedicating space specifically to areas of biology, chemistry, microbiology and anatomy, as well as laboratory training within the Medical Laboratory Technician program. The Higher Education Center’s original facility has also been renovated to include administration and faculty offices, the student multipurpose center, and a regional Business Development Center providing support and guidance for emerging small businesses in the area. Students in the healthcare program will also now benefit from a storefront community clinic located in the new building as a means to fulfill their required hours as healthcare assistants-in-training.

Objective + Design Intent

The new science facility accommodates 250% more students than the previous facility — approximately 500 more students per semester. The L-shaped building surrounds a new courtyard and lawn, creating a compact version of a traditional college quadrangle. The space provides tranquility and refuge for students, faculty members, staff, and the community, serving as a place to enhance college life outside the classroom. An additional community room at the ground floor between the new building and an existing building is entirely transparent, providing views from the street into this new quadrangle at the heart of the site. Classrooms and labs are connected by a covered outdoor passage that faces out onto the quadrangle. 

Design Qualities 

The architects drew inspiration from the fortified bases of urban buildings in the prewar American Beaux Arts tradition. The building façade is a wall of marble-print porcelain tile arranged in a large, over-scaled bond pattern, creating the appearance of enormous stone blocks separated by large gaps; though they may read like joints without mortar, the gaps are actually windows of the science labs and classrooms. Likewise, the façade is not made of thick stone as the illusion implies, but rather two-inch-thick screens extending out from the building’s core, functioning as a sun-shading device for the glass curtain walls beneath the tiled blocks. 

Structural System

Manufacturer of any structural components unique to this project: 

Conxtech Space Frame System

Exterior Cladding

Masonry: 

OBP Mortar: Orco Block Company and Superior Ready Mix

OBP Grout concrete: Orco Block Company and Superior Ready Mix

Mac Mortar: Orco Block Company and Superior Ready Mix

Metal panels: 

Equitone (natura) Fiber Cement façade materials N 251: Equitone 

Mitsubishi Plastics Composites America 4 mm thick TOB Black 4.TOB.15: Alpolic Materials

Windows

Roller window shades: 

Mechoshade Rolling Window Shades Eurotwill Color 6011 Graphite; Thermoveil Color 0711 Dark Gray: Mechosystems

Glazing

Glass: 

Arcadia TC 670 System

Vetrotech, Contraflam 60 Fire rated glass

Doors

Metal doors: 

Aluminum storefronts, curtain walls, windows, and doors: Arcadia 

Door hardware: Assa Abbloy

Automatic and combination bolts: Rockwood

Exit devices: Von Duprin

Fire-control doors, security grilles: 

Counter fire doors: Cookson

Sprinkler system: A-1 Fire Protection Inc. 

Interior Finishes

Acoustical ceilings: 

Acoustical Ceiling 70 mm Classic Acoustical finish: Baswaphon

Cabinetwork and custom woodwork: 

Maple veneer with clear finish: Kewaunee 

Plastic laminate casework: Custom

Epoxy resin countertops: Kemresin 

Wood casework: Kewaunee

Stainless steel casework: Custom

Steel Wall Mounted Storage Cabinets: Custom

Paints and stains: 

Swiss Coffee powder coating: Tiger Drylac

Special surfacing: 

Horizontal sliding unit marker board: Claridge 

Vertical sliding board: Claridge 

Floor and wall tile: 

#1RG1224147 12” x 24” x 3/8”, IRIS U.S. Carrara Select Collection: Calacatta Venato

Special interior finishes unique to this project:

Kemresin sinks, work tops, and drain troughs: KEWAUNEE Scientific Corporation'

Furnishings

Lab Equipment: 

Innovations/Desk Pedestals: MonoSystems 

Laboratory Fume Hoods & Enclosures: Labconco

Protector XVS Ventilation Stations: Labconco

Flat work surfaces & lab accessories: Labconco

Fume hood filters and canopy hoods: KEWAUNEE

Mobile lab bench: Custom

Freestanding SteamScrubber Glassware Washer with Viewing Window and Light: Labconco 

Small Lab Series Steam Sterilizers: KEWAUNEE/ISEC

Elix High-throughput water purification systems: Kewaunee

Fume Hood - 4' Protector ClassMate Hood, Lever Handle Gas & Vac: Labconco

Eagle Flammable Liquid Safety Storage Cabinet, 45/24 Gal. Yellow: Kewaunee

n/a CSC01 Eagle Poly Acid & Corrosive Safety Cabinet, 44 Gal. Blue: Kewaunee

ST ST Consolidated Sterilizer - small – freestanding: Labconco 

Lighting

Interior ambient lighting: 

2TL2 33L FWA12 EZ1 LP835: Lithonia

EV3A 35HO 4' G1G UNV 1D W: Pinnacle 

137418-MC-3-M: Bruck

ECVLXWET 4 4K 120 SC10W TCAPW: Solid State

Exterior: 

LSL4 accent light: Auroralight

ECVLXWET 4 4K 120 SC10W TCAPW: Solid State 

Conveyance

Elevators/escalators: 

Otis Hydrofit Elevator: Inland Building Construction Companies, Inc. 

Plumbing

Laboratory waste piping: Charlotte Pipe and Foundry Company 

Trench and access cover: Balco Inc. 

ChemDrain pipe and fittings: Charlotte Pipe and Foundry Company 

B-Line Clamps, Strust Systems, Piper Hanegrs and Channels: Eaton/Cooper Industries

Blue Banger Hanger: ISAT

Thread Rod Fastenings: ERICO