The Extrovert of Campus Centers

The original design of the University of California at San Diego's existing Price Center, was developed with an introverted configuration - a central courtyard bordered on three sides by all of the building’s program elements facing inward - that established a powerful sense of place and a hub for dining, socializing, and events. When the university’s growth necessitated an expansion of the Price Center, our solution was to create an extroverted, highly permeable addition offering many points of entry and features such as plazas and monumental staircases that engage the building’s surroundings and enrich the street experience.

The original Price Center (West) was built when the UCSD campus was comprised of disparate buildings, mostly due to topography and the suburban location – the building was a standalone unit. As the campus expanded, the needs changed and the University wanted a 24/7, activated downtown – which did not exist – we were charged with making a “there” when there was no “there”.

Our solution looks at campus and urban design strategies – how can we shift this introverted building into a space that had a dialogue with the urban fabric. We looked at the building as a sponge – the building had to be porous – having movement in and out, flexible to shifting needs. We began to look at the spaces around the site and how we could promote interactivity with those spaces and how those spaces could respond to our building.

We explored many options to create a new contextual response to the campus – the first shows a singular building with programs organized to have a direct relationship to the exterior. The second looks at the building as a series of building with multiple indoor and outdoor spaces. The third looks at a linear solution intertwining the program with campus life.

The building’s form and shape was the result of the investigation of how students moved through the building to the campus, the movement is capitalized in the 2-ground floor approach which mitigates the flow.

We began analyzing student movement further in 2D and in 3D and tested it against the existing and the new program.

A large student group was part of the decision making process – to have them fully understand and realize the design a large scale model was employed to express spatial and programmatic ideas. A sketch by Mehrdad Yazdani expressing the energy and juxtaposition of the program.

Exploration of the atrium roof and exterior envelope.

The model captures the exterior spaces – the grand stair, the beginning of the town square, the outdoor dining spaces. The dance studio and 24-hour lounge below frames the grove from the inside for a picturesque view, the rendering shows the intense pedestrian thoroughfare for the campus and the interaction it has with
the building.

The glass frames the views upon which it looks out on and it also pays homage to the landscape by incorporating it, into the panes itself. The building maintains its porosity, as originally intended, as you can see at dusk, where a clear connection and transparency occurs between the building and the surrounding environment. The interior atrium, already activated by students, is complemented by Barbara Krueger’s artwork. A tunnel acts as a portal between the existing center (Price Center West) and the new.