As its College of Optometry grows in reputation the university finds itself short on space and presence at its Hillsboro campus. The new structure’s design identifies and evolves the aesthetic theme of the existing buildings, and so solidifies a sense of campus and community.  In our plan we aimed to incorporate both present and prospective spacial needs (laboratories, administrative offices, the student-run eye clinic, a new student union) into a structure that establishes the university’s presence as a campus by creating an interrelatedness with the college’s existing two buildings. Our program envisions a flow through the entry points of all three structures’ and is anchored by a light-filled atrium that acts as a central gathering space for students and faculty.

The third and final phase of our plan to enhance the community and interactions of Pacific University took the form of an addition to the fitness center on their Forest Grove campus. The most common complaint by far on student feedback surveys regarded the inadequate, undersized, and dated athletic facilities at the University’s Stoller Center; Town Hall discussions at the City of Forest Grove consistently raised the current physical conditions of the center as a blight on the city. The existing facilities are housed in a one-story, minimally-windowed, concrete structure with all the provisions and modern technology of 1970. We saw opportunity.

We took it from minimally-windowed to maximally-windowed and used transparency as a sort of visual invitation to the surrounding community. The plan engulfs the center in glass, including a graded, paneled window system at the roof covering an indoor ball field. We grew the structure from one floor to three, adding approximately 50,000 square feet, and incorporating space for a main-room rock-climbing wall, a rowing room, and other more modern sporting activities popular in our Northwest. We opened the parking plan and pedestrian flow to increase the center’s connectivity to the campus and student populace. And its site at the street, in concert with its welcoming transparency, extends its presence to the city itself to take advantage of shared opportunities to promote wellness with Forest Grove at large.