What sets this project apart is its dual achievement of honoring context and community history while inspiring progress at the same time. The building embodies the character of the Westside community and creates moments to communicate its identity including a mural at the building entry executed by a local artist. A single mass with varied pitches and slopes accommodates the various training programs and is wrapped in a textured metal skin of varying profiles. 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.” The mint green color ties the building to the existing Historic Westside School while contemporizing it. The varying metal profiles create linear shadows that unify the composition, intentionally creating a simple unified form. 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. A local artist’s murals highlight the entry at the south, and brands the building at the north as belonging to the “Westside,” an area known by the talent and artistry of its African American community. Building interior spaces embrace raw materials such as oriented strand board and exposed structural elements and building systems become instructional elements supporting the educational program of the facility. A community plaza captures the City’s “Hundred” plan for placemaking. It also serves as a link to the circulation spine that connects the building to the existing Historic Westside School creating a campus-feel between projects. The building and site design had to meet approvals and guidelines of the City of Las Vegas Historic Preservation Council and Nevada’s State Historic Preservation Office. A gate along D street reflects the aesthetic of the existing Historic Westside School gate and 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 community and placemaking. An artists’ sculpture captures the essence and history of the Westside. Within the landscape a plaque commemorates the location of the former Jefferson Recreational Center that was the first public recreational facility opened to the African American Community. 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.