Humanities

 

 
The new Arts & Humanities building consists of approximately 128,000 square feet of new construction for the Arts and Humanities department including space for Visual Arts, English, English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), Speech and Foreign Language, Honors, World Cultures, and City Works programs. The building includes new classrooms, a lecture hall, computer labs, and studio space for drawing, ceramics, sculpture, and graphics. There is a 100-seat black-box theater with drama classrooms and related offices and space for faculty and support staff. The exterior usable space includes a kiln yard, a sculpture garden and display area, and gathering space for students and faculty. The Arts & Humanities building was built as a dual-classroom building project with the Business & Technology building.

 

Landscaping and streetscape treatments are designed to blend City College with the surrounding East Village streets, with respect to street tree guidelines established for the downtown area by the Center City Development Corporation (CCDC). All plants were selected based on criteria that consider their drought tolerance, and compatibility with the downtown climate; a high-efficiency irrigation system will manage water usage.

 

The project is on track to obtain a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC).

 

 

• Deep overhangs and horizontal louvers help to reduce heat gain on the south sides of the buildings, where the sun is the highest.
• Vertical louvers are used to shade the large glazed area on the east side of the Business Technology building, where the sun is the lowest.
• Large openings on the north side of the buildings are used to take advantage of as much natural light as possible.

• Displacement ventilation and supplemental radiant heating takes advantage of natural thermal movement to reduce energy use.