+Interiors/Higher Education

Pitzer College

Robert Redford Conservancy

Vision

Located on 12 acres just north of the main campus of Pitzer College, a 1931 infirmary sat vacant for 40 years. Pitzer College’s commitment to sustainability is evident throughout its campus. With a remarkable record of supporting environmental causes within the community, the College wanted to expound on its mission to promote social and environmental awareness with an adaptive reuse plan for the uninhabited infirmary.

Social sustainability is the cornerstone of the conservancy’s mission and a fundamental premise of the project’s design. Ecological sustainability was paramount in the design approach, but the team emphasized the desire to reach far beyond standard energy and water metrics to achieve this project’s full potential. Careful consideration was taken into the development of the program planning with an emphasis on natural and low-impact design, preserving and reusing as much of the existing site and structure as possible to mitigate the inherent environmental impacts of construction. The client aimed to limit development to the existing area and protect natural habitats while design team aimed to create a strong relationship between indoor and outdoor spaces to take full advantage of this beautiful, though neglected, landscape. The entire site was to become a living eco-lab to serve multiple user groups.

Project Meta

Client

Pitzer College

Completion

2018

Size

12 Acres; 13,500 SF

Construction Cost

$5,500,000

LEED Rating

Platinum + Net Zero

Markets

Academic; Research; Classrooms; Adaptive Reuse

Project Types

Higher Education

Services

Architecture, Interiors, Landscape Architecture, Renovation, Sustainability

Untapped Potential?

The single-story, Spanish-Revival building had been previously damaged by fire and sat in a biologically sensitive preserve area with restricted access. Restoring and renovating it would not be a simple feat.

A New Purpose

The building was renovated and repurposed as the Robert Redford Conservancy: an environmentally sustainable academic facility that supports five associated colleges and local grade schools with classrooms for the science and the arts – 3500 SF of which are outdoors – conservancy offices, a field station lab, a gallery exhibit space, informal study spaces, and two naturally ventilated sunrooms.

Environmental Responsibility

Our renovation approach reused 90% of the original structural components and envelope materials such as terracotta roof tiles, copper flashings, and gutters. Wood and steel windows with high historic value were repaired and reconditioned. Over 33% of new materials used were sourced and manufactured within a 500-mile radius of the site and over 76% of new wood used is FSC-certified. Original interior terracotta and plaster walls were either reinforced and repaired or crushed and reused as paving base material. Our landscaping plan preserved 72 mature trees on the site. Groundcover plantings were grown from native plant cuttings, restoring 10.8 acres of habitat. The Robert Redford Conservancy now contains one of the largest remaining habitats of Costal Safe Scrub – a plant that was once prominent throughout Southern California.

Social Responsibility

The renovated building is a sustainable facility where interdisciplinary synergistic research and studies occur. Here, students shape our collective future while connecting to the past. With respect to the Tongva Tribe who originally inhabited the site, an outdoor indigenous studies space with a medicinal herb gathering and storage area teaches students about traditional practices and skills that can still be used today. Elders of the Indigenous community also helped plan many of the outdoor spaces.

With its inherently passive design and extensive natural landscape, the RRC is a destination that recognizes the past, educates about the present, and fosters collaborative learning across disciplines in a rejuvenated space for the future.

Project Gallery

Robert Redford Conservancy_Carrier Johnson_13 Exterior Night

Robert Redford Conservancy_Carrier Johnson_09 Corridor