Perkins+Will Celebrates Groundbreaking For New College of the Desert Visual Arts Building

LOS ANGELES, July 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The latest project from the Los Angeles office of award-winning global architecture and design firm Perkins+Will recently broke ground. The new Visual Arts Building at College of the Desert in Palm Desert, California will be an anchor for a re-conceived Arts District and will tie in the arts facility with the rest of the academic community. The plan includes indoor and outdoor classrooms and labs, a multipurpose room for interdisciplinary classes, lectures, and exhibits as well as dedicated exhibit space.

This Visual Arts Building project has already earned a 2012 Merit Award from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Inland California Chapter in the un-built category. The recognition from the AIA for this 13,948 square foot Visual Arts facility attests to the project's design excellence. The new facility is located at the transition between the campus's arts district and the core campus. This juxtaposition will facilitate the college's wishes of integrating the arts program with core curriculum studies.

"The new Visual Arts Building was conceived as a celebratory representation of the newly defined arts district, and will provide a portal into the art making process," said Darren Adkisson, Senior Project Designer for Perkins+Will Los Angeles.

The strong desert sun drove the design of the building's most prominent feature. An aluminum perforated screen will wrap around the edge of the projecting roof creating a canopy that provides shade on four sides. As a passive cooling measure, it will greatly increase the building's energy performance. While the canopy maximizes shading to the south and west exposures, the rooftop skylights take advantage of the softer northern light which floods classrooms with natural daylight.

The concrete and stucco exterior facade underneath the screen will provide a color palette that compliments the desert and fits into the natural landscape of this 1960s campus. The color that will be used in the interior is deliberately neutral, which is intended to emphasize and showcase the artwork on display from students. In addition to these elements, designers wanted to create a sense of connection--both within the facility itself as well as with the rest of the campus. To that end, the multi-purpose room and main building will have entrances directly across from one another, allowing easy access to various spaces within the facility and campus. All of these thoughtful design elements are intended to establish a strong sense of place among the entire College of the Desert campus.

The project is slated for completion in February 2014, and is expected to be certified LEED Gold.

With 70 professionals on staff, the Los Angeles office of Perkins+Will is consistently ranked among the top five design firms in the city. Located in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, the practice delivers a broad range of architecture, planning interior design and strategic consulting services with significant expertise in corporate + commercial  + civic, healthcare, higher education, K-12 education and science + technology projects.

About Perkins+Will
Established in 1935, Perkins+Will is a global interdisciplinary architecture and design firm founded on the belief that design has the power to transform lives and enhance society. With a staff of 1,500 in 22 locations worldwide, the firm serves clients across a broad range of project types and grounds its work in deep research. Perkins+Will ranks among the world's top design firms and is the recipient of hundreds of awards. Social responsibility is fundamental to the firm's outlook, work, and culture, and every year Perkins+Will donates one percent of its design services to non-profit organizations. With pioneering tools to advance sustainable design practices, the largest green building portfolio in North America, nearly 1,000 LEED® Accredited Professionals, and a commitment to the 2030 Challenge, Perkins+Will is recognized as one of the industry's preeminent sustainable design firms. For more information, visit www.perkinswill.com.

SOURCE Perkins+Will