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Project Name
Westside Education and Training Center
Firm:
Awards Category
Unbuilt Architecture
Citation
Project Summary
The Westside Education & Training Center is part of the City of Las Vegas Historic Westside Community “Hundred” Plan which has the following vision:
“The Historic Westside Community will be a thriving district of African American culture in Las Vegas. It will be a unique place where the world will come together to live, work, visit and play, through the development of housing, local business, jobs, education hospitality, and cultural pride.”
The 16,590 square-foot facility will provide education and credentialed job training in various trades including advanced manufacturing, healthcare, construction and technology.
Programming includes a healthcare laboratory, classrooms, computer lab, and offices as well as vocational classrooms for manufacturing, construction, and welding. The site layout includes parking for the project, pad for a future incubator space, outdoor plaza, and pedestrian connection to
the Historic Westside School.
Fulfilling the commitment to the “Hundred” Plan, the training center brings accessible training and education for the betterment and improvement of the Westside community.
Project Narrative
The building embodies the character of the Westside community and creates moments to communicate its identity including a mural at the building entry which will be 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 mural highlights the entry and brands the building as belonging to the “Westside,” an area known by the talent and artistry of its African American community.
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.
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 existing 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.
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.
Sustainable Design & Materials
The project is planned to achieve LEED Silver equivalency. Strategies include:
• Maximized daylight through proper building orientation E-W axis
• Drought tolerant landscape
• Recycled metal- exterior cladding system
• High efficiency glazing
• Outdoor fan to promote passive cooling to improve user comfort in outdoor training areas.
• High reflective SRI concrete at hardscape
• LED lighting with occupant controls throughout
• Solar parking with electric vehicle charging at preferred locations
• Interior structure is planned with a 6’ high CMU pony wall to mitigate damage and reduce overall landfill
The “campus feel” encourages walkability and well-being. Buy-American requirements will ensure selection of readily available sustainable products.
Project Stats
Square Feet
16590
Green Building Designation(s)
Targeting LEED Silver equivalency
Date of Completion
Projected 2026
Project Location
1099 C St, Las Vegas, NV 89106, USA
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