The Student Services Center at Contra Costa College provides a wide range of support services to the college’s diverse enrollment of approximately 8,000 students. The Center was envisioned to serve as a “one-stop” counseling, financial aid and career guidance resource and to provide a new gateway and heart for the campus. Designed by Interactive Resources, Inc., the Center features adaptive re-use of an existing facility and the design of an addition of a new facility.

The remodel brings a modern aesthetic and flexibility in design to the mid-century architecture of the campus. It incorporates many sustainable design measures, including: a cool roof to enhance energy efficiency and reduce heat island effect; heat island effect reduction landscaping with drought tolerant plants; clerestory windows to increase daylighting and ventilation; east to west building orientation for daylighting; sunshades and roll down shades for windows and deep overhangs at glazed entries, low-e insulated glazing; and PG&E Savings by Design program participation.

“Interactive Resources, Inc. has been the chief architectural planners for a few projects at Contra Costa College. The firm programmed and designed three major projects on the campus. The state-of-the-art Early Learning Center has been lauded for its innovation and design by child development specialists who have toured the facility. Our one-stop Student Services Center changed the way we intake and provide student services to over 9,000 students per term, and is another facility that has been visited by student services professionals in the process of designing similar projects. Lastly, the AA Building is undergoing an extensive remodel and will soon accommodate the Math and Speech Departments and their related learning centers. Working with the staff at the firm has been a pleasure. They are very attentive to the needs of the end users. They take the time to listen before offering solutions to design problems that might surface during the program planning phase. Once construction begins, we have found them to be available for consultation and very eager to respond to any issues that arise. They were always very prompt in responding to our requests even after the project was under construction. I give Interactive Resources, Inc. my highest recommendation. I know they are capable of doing an outstanding job…. They are a local company with knowledge of our service area and the type of facilities that are environmentally sound. I would certainly hire them again if given the chance to do so.”

—McKinley Williams, President, Contra Costa College (formerly)