Los Angeles Harbor College—CA
ARCADIS is serving as Project and Construction Manager for Los Angeles Harbor College’s (LAHC) capital improvement program. The most recently completed projects on campus include the Northeast Academic Hall and the Student Services and Administration Building.
At the onset of these projects, it was clear that the College’s 9,000-student campus had outgrown its antiquated facilities. Administrative services were located in a building that was constructed in 1941 and many classes were offered in World War II-era portable classrooms that were originally intended to be used for a few months. These portables were poorly temperature-controlled, unventilated, lacked in technology and were in a state of disrepair.
The major challenge was building the new structures on an existing operational college site while maintaining full campus functionality. To accommodate the students and faculty, ARCADIS had to phase in the construction of swing space capable of housing more than 400 students concurrently, as well as plan for the relocation of the entire campus administrative staff and provide a complete switch over of all staff, IT and telecommunications functions without losing a connection.
To track all these elements and timelines, ARCADIS developed a key management tool called Construction Sequence Storyboards. It served not only as a communication tool to the College but as a planning tool for our staff during the pre-construction phase. The sequenced plan helped to drive decisions on when to start consulting contracts for design, plan swing space, and bid contract work. Construction phases were also sequenced from the storyboards to prevent conflicts.
End result: The newly built Northeast Academic Hall is a two-story 74,300 square foot classroom facility that utilizes the latest Smart Classroom technology, allowing students to bring laptops into the classroom and instructors to teach from Smart Lecterns/Podia. The building also features automated audio/visual equipment and a separate wing for faculty offices. The new Student Services and Administration Building is a 42,500 square foot two-story facility that houses enrollment, financial aid, counseling services, all campus administrative functions and presidential/vice-presidential office suites.
Both of these buildings serve as the centerpiece of the new campus entryway and were designed to achieve a minimum of a Silver LEED® certification with a goal to reach Gold certification. Green elements include day lighting, solar control, water-conserving fixtures, energy-efficient lighting systems and the use of recyclable materials during construction. A soon-to-be completed solar farm will be used to generate energy for both structures.
