Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Rock Creek Campus adds 'front door' with new library and student services building

Photos and story by James Hill

ROCK CREEK CAMPUS – Portland Community College’s Rock Creek Campus will have a dramatically new ‘front door’ to greet students for the 2004-05 school year, which begins Monday, Sept. 27. The new $10 million Library and Student Services Building, which is nearing completion, will serve as an anchor to the campus and provide an active presence along the entry drive. The new building is designed as a one-stop center for students to conduct college business.The Rock Creek Campus will celebrate 30 years of service and the opening of its new building with a dedication ceremony and celebration on Friday, Sept. 24, from 10 a.m. to noon. The campus will also celebrate the addition to the Science and Technology Building. The event will feature tours of the new facilities, entertainment and refreshments. It is open to the public.Designed by Thomas Hacker Architects, Inc., the first floor of the 65,000-square-foot facility houses the campus bookstore, classrooms, the registrar, counseling, financial aid, testing, additional student services and administrative office space. Howard S. Wright Construction is the general contractor for the construction at Rock Creek and Walker Macy is the landscape architecture firm.The second story is devoted to the campus library. The new library will provide for increased general and reserve collections, expanded staff support area and a large reading room with spectacular views of the 250-acre campus. Serving as a resource for both the college population and the community as a whole, the library allows for more computer access. It contains a variety of study spaces from individual carrels to smaller, more private group study rooms on the east side of the building, overlooking the new plaza."The new Library and Student Services Building will be a campus focal point for prospective, new, and returning students," said Craig Kolins, Rock Creek dean of student development. "It’s a place to meet with an academic advisor, form study groups in the library, attend a guest lecture or performance, buy books, and explore careers and internship opportunities.""These services are essential to student success, degree completion and future employment for our students," he added.To emphasize the accessibility and open environment, the building elevation complements the existing buildings. The design also emphasizes flexible spaces; a large event room can be subdivided into as many as three smaller rooms for classes or meetings. The reception hall is designed to host public as well as academic events. Located on the ground floor, guests can easily flow outside onto the new plaza.The offices of the campus president, dean of instruction and dean of student services are consolidated in a dean’s suite on the first floor. These offices were previously located in separate buildings across the campus. Thomas Hacker Architects also designed the addition to the Rock Creek Science and Technology Building. The $5.5 million, 34,000-square-foot expansion increases the facility’s total to 94,000-square-feet and unites all of the college’s science-based programs into one building. The addition will add three science labs including biology, chemistry and general science, plus labs for Microelectronics and Veterinary technology training programs. In addition, the building gained three general purpose classrooms.The new laboratories and classrooms are outfitted with state-of-the-art audio visual projection systems. Voters approved a $144 million bond measure for PCC in November of 2000, with $35 million identified for Rock Creek. In total, there are 23 projects, including one new building, a significant addition to the science building, an entry plaza and a new pole building for landscape technology.Portland Community College is the largest post-secondary educational institution in Oregon, enrolling approximately 85,000 full- and part-time students annually, and operating three comprehensive campuses along with five workforce training and education centers, a small business development center and education outlets in hundreds of community and business locations.Founded in 1983, Thomas Hacker Architects is recognized for the design of libraries, museums, theaters, higher education buildings, and campus and urban design.