Westside Education and Training Center

Embodying the character of the Westside community is critical to the project which creates moments to communicate its identity including a mural at the building entry which is planned to be executed by a local artist. Continuing at the corner of D Street and Jefferson Avenue, opportunities for a public art piece and information regarding the rerouted Pioneer Trail along D street provide additional opportunities for ensuring the project represents the Westside community. A gate further along D street that reflects the aesthetic of the Historic Westside School gate opens onto a plaza that becomes a landscaped, outdoor space for community-based events, creating a gathering space for the neighborhood. These elements enliven the corner of D Street and Jefferson Avenue providing space to celebrate the Westside and promote the HUNDRED Plan’s goals for the community and placemaking. Through its site development, the project connects to the recently renovated Historic Westside School creating a pedestrian, tree-lined corridor while contextual forms and materials create a campus-feel between the projects. The material palette incorporates color and tones from the Historic Westside School, particularly the mint green of the exterior metal panels that, with alternating profiles, create a play of light and shadow along the building’s surfaces. Furthermore, the varied pitched form is inspired by the forms of the Historic Westside School and neighborhood pitched roofs while contemporizing them with long lasting materials. Programmatically, the building supports education and certification programs for very different spaces. This derived into a natural separation between “loud spaces” -construction/ manufacturing and welding - and more traditional classroom and health training spaces “quiet spaces.” Natural daylight is introduced as full height glazing at the building lobby, while it’s controlled and planned as high clerestories along the teaching labs spaces where expensive equipment is housed. The Westside Community has been an underprivileged area of the city for many years, hence, planning for spaces that encourage community interaction and accessibility to education is the most important pillar of this project. The design team created a building that contextually fits within the Historic Westside Campus while embracing its community artistic identity.