Carrier Johnson - CSU East Bay Library - Hero 01
+Architecture/Higher Education

CSU East Bay

CSU East Bay CORE Library

Vision

To temporarily accommodate a growing student body, CSU East Bay placed modular classrooms in a long and narrow open space on campus but needed a more permanent solution. A new library was to replace the disparate classrooms and sit strategically between the lower campus recreation center and amenities to the southwest and academic facilities of the upper campus to the northeast. The site’s landscape, however, presented dramatic challenges as it featured bidirectional sloped topography and fire access routes.

The proposed building would need to accommodate for a 40-foot grade differential, maintain fire access to the campus, and permit pedestrian circulation between the east and west sides of the campus. For this project, maintaining and enhancing site connections was imperative. We investigated ways to utilize the site’s dramatic slope to create a unique experiential landscape that stiches the upper and lower campuses together.

The building takes advantage of the site’s available flat area with a long form that extends northwest to southeast. To facilitate campus circulation on the east-west axis, the form is cut diagonally with a stepped exterior spine that physically connects the lower and upper campuses – a three-story difference. This diagonal cut becomes a ceremonial promenade flanked on both sides by the CORE building. Users access the northeast entrance from the upper science plaza via a new pedestrian bridge. The stair spills out to a large open greenspace on the lower campus.

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Project Meta

Client

CSU East Bay

Completion

2023

Size

100,000 SF

Construction Cost

$78,600,000

LEED Rating

Gold + Net Zero Ready

Markets

Higher Education

Project Types

Higher Education

Services

Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Site Planning, Sustainability

Context

The proposed building would need to accommodate for a 40-foot grade differential, maintain fire access to the campus, and permit pedestrian circulation between the east and west sides of the campus. For this project, maintaining and enhancing site connections was imperative. We investigated ways to utilize the site’s dramatic slope to create a unique experiential landscape that stiches the upper and lower campuses together.

Finding Rhythm

It was also important that the final building exemplifies its purpose as a place of learning and knowledge. Our team found inspiration in the visual rhythm of an upright book and abstracted its array of white pages to explore façade expressions.

In line with CSU’s mission to achieve carbon neutrality, our vision called for an energy-performative solution as well. We tasked ourselves with finding an optimal building orientation that met the demands of the site, comfortably housed its interior programs, and capitalized on daylight and natural ventilation enough to achieve a net zero standards.

Connections

The building takes advantage of the site’s available flat area with a long form that extends northwest to southeast. To facilitate campus circulation on the east-west axis, the form is cut diagonally with a stepped exterior spine that physically connects the lower and upper campuses – a three-story difference. This diagonal cut becomes a ceremonial promenade flanked on both sides by the CORE building. Users access the northeast entrance from the upper science plaza via a new pedestrian bridge. The stair spills out to a large open greenspace on the lower campus.

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Throughout the site, terraced gathering areas are connected by accessible ramps and walkways. The north plaza is open with fixed and moveable furnishings and planted areas that dot the hardscape.  The south plaza is stepped with large tree canopies that offer shade in outdoor gathering areas. Linear bench seating in the plazas and terraces are digitally equipped to allow students and faculty to plug in and work outdoors. To mitigate heavy storm runoff on site, rainwater is directed through raingardens of cobble, boulders, and water tolerant plant material toward bioretention basins at the center of the green, providing an interest point of functional hydrology.

Interior Comfort

Vertical strips of high-performance glazing alternate with off-white GFCR panels to wrap the horizontal mass of the library and welcome abundant daylight, directed with vertical metal louvers, to the interior. Inside, students enjoy a variety of seating area options for private study, and small and large group work sessions. Natural light pours in through long, linear skylights positioned over double story atriums creating soft, ambient illumination – ideal for multiple hours of reading and screen time. The energy for artificial lighting is supplemented by PV arrays on the roof and on trellises in the landscape. Building materials were sourced from suppliers who practice ecologically responsible land use and extraction methods.

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Project Gallery

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