Napa Health & Human Services Agency Tours Steelcase Showroom

January 4, 2012

TLCD Architecture was recently selected to provide programming and master planning services for the redevelopment of the Napa County Health and Human Services Agency campus in Napa, California. The master plan will bring together a comprehensive range of services including social, mental health, public health, and alcohol and drug treatment – with the goal of making them more accessible and effective for Napa County residents.

Beginning in September of 2011, TLCD’s project team conducted a series of visioning sessions with key stakeholder groups from the County of Napa. In addition to early sessions to evaluate the overall building program and establish project goals, the team utilized “touring” as a means to evaluate other facilities and see the latest in workplace innovation.

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In December, Steelcase and Northern California dealer, One Workplace hosted the HHSA management team at their San Francisco showroom and conference center for a visioning session that explored new workplace planning strategies. By experiencing a variety of furniture solutions, the group was able to create a vision for a more efficient and effective work environment. It was gratifying to watch the client group as they experienced first-hand the various options for open work areas. In fact one of the senior administrators commented that she saw for the first time how good workplace design encourages collaboration.

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Posted by Brian

Groundbreaking for Mendocino College Lake Center

October 22, 2011

A festive groundbreaking ceremony for Phase 1 of the new Mendocino College Center in Lakeport was held on Thursday, October 20, under bright sunshine. The event was attended by over 120 people, including community members, college staff and administrators, the architects and contractor.

The event started with words by college president Kathy Lehner and board of trustees chair Joel Clark thanking the community for their support of Bond Measure W, which made this project possible. Mark Rawitsch, the Lake Center Dean of Instruction, spoke about how this facility will enhance the District’s ability to better serve the Lake County students. Director of Facilities Mike Adams thanked the stakeholders and design team, and was given a tomato (see photo) for planting on the site, a long tradition signifying planting the seeds for growth.

Project Architect Nate Bisbee of TLCD Architecture talked about how this project was designed to take advantage of the beautiful site and views, and Wright Contracting president Mark Davis spoke about their excitement of working on this project, and their long relationship with Mendocino College, going back to the original campus construction in Ukiah. Ruzicka Associates graciously hosted a reception after the ceremony at their offices just north of the site. The ceremony also included the mandatory photos of the Board of Trustees with the golden shovels.

The new Lake Center, located on a 30-acre site on Parallel Drive, will include 15,000 square feet of classrooms, computer, art, and science labs, administration and student support spaces, and a round classroom/community room. The facility replaces the existing center, which is located in leased office space one mile to the north. The new facility is scheduled to be completed by the Spring semester of 2013.

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Posted by Brian

Mendocino College Library Going Vertical!

December 3, 2010

After 6 months of earthwork, utilities and foundations, steel is finally being flown at the new Mendocino College Library in Ukiah. Cal Erectors, a subcontractor to Midstate Construction started putting up the steel beams, columns, and decking Wednesday, December 1, and plans to have the entire structure erected by December 10. We’ll keep you posted, it is very exciting to see this great new building taking shape.

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Posted by Brian

College of Marin New Academic Center featured in ArchDaily

October 28, 2010

The design competition entry for the New Academic Center at College of Marin, prepared by TLCD Architecture and Mark Cavagnero Associates, was featured in the October 26 edition of ArchDaily: http://www.archdaily.com/84268/college-of-marin-new-academic-center-tlcd-mark-cavagnero-associates/

The design competition was held back in November of 2009, and after a very long selection process the team of TLCD/MCA was finally selected in May of 2010. We completed the programming phase of the project in August of 2010, and are currently waiting for Board approval of the program before we start on the Schematic Design.

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Posted by Brian

Mendocino College LLRC Groundbreaking

September 10, 2010

On Wednesday, September 8, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the new Library and Learning Resource Center at Mendocino College in Ukiah. The ceremony, which occurred on an unseasonably cool afternoon, was attended by about 50 people, including the college board of trustees, faculty, staff, students, community members, and various elected official representatives, including Benj Thomas, the shorts-clad mayor of Ukiah. President/Superintendent Kathy Lehner moderated the ceremony, which concluded with the mandatory photos with golden shovels.

The 47,000 square foot building, which is being built by Midstate Construction, was actually started in June, and they were scheduled to begin the first pour of concrete foundations this morning at 2:00 am. I couldn’t seem to convince John Hunter that he should be there to witness the first pour. The building is expected to be ready for occupancy by the Spring of 2012.

The event also included a tour of the recently completed East Campus, which relocated the modular buildings out of the way of the new LLRC, and created a new landscaped courtyard that has turned out to be extremely popular. A tour of the nearly completed Maintenance Building/Warehouse was also part of the afternoon festivities.

All 3 of the projects were designed by TLCD, and the feedback from the College so far has been very positive.

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Posted by Brian

Fieldhouse Dedication

January 20, 2010

Jeff, John Dybczak and Brian attended the dedication of the new Napa Valley College Fieldhouse (formally the North Gym) on Thursday afternoon. The dedication ceremony was attended by about 100 people, including the very first graduate from the college’s Criminal Justice program. The two-story facility houses a large mat room on the upper floor used for tactical training of the CJ cadets, while the lower floors include a large weight training room for the Physical Education and Athletics departments, and a facility for adaptive PE. Jeff was the project architect for the building, which incorporates a high level of daylighting and natural ventilation, as well as a high efficiency mechanical system. This was also TLCD’s first use of Trespa panels, which look great. A real-time example of the sunshading controls occurred during the ceremony as Greg Miraglia (the former dean of the CJ program) was speaking at the podium, when after a dramatic session of thunder and lighting, the sun started streaming into the space, right into Greg’s face. Just in time, the mecho-shades on the high west windows lowered, and all was well!

The building looks fantastic, even though a few punch list items need to be completed, and the majority of the landscaping is yet to be installed. The college stakeholders and board members present are extremely happy with the new building. Kudos to Jeff and John for a great job with the design and construction administration!

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Posted by Brian

CCFC Conference

November 9, 2009
Mahoney Library - 2009 CCFC Award of Merit

Mahoney Library - 2009 CCFC Award of Merit

On November 3rd and 4th, Ian and I attended the CCFC (Community College Facilities Coalition) annual conference in Sacramento. The conference brings together facilities folks from the community college districts throughout California, along with the swarming cast of architects, consultants, and construction managers typically found at any event having anything to do with construction. The theme for this year’s event was “Finding the Silver Linings in an Economic Crisis” , and  included workshops on topics ranging from cutting construction costs, to alternative energy strategies. The workshops this year were less than inspiring, but there was definitely good networking opportunities. The highlight for us (beside the great dinner with our clients at Biba restaurant) was the Design Awards presentation luncheon, in which TLCD was presented with an Award of Merit for the Mahoney Library at the Petaluma Campus. Ian, along with Curt Groninga and Jane Saldaña-Talley, accepted the award in front of hundreds of college representatives and other architects. Good exposure for a great project!

 

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Posted by Brian

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