\u201cHave we ever seen a louder buzz on this campus? I don\u2019t think so,\u201d said Raymer Maguire III, chairman of Valencia\u2019s board of trustees.<\/p>\n
When completed in spring of 2013, the\u00a0four-story building will be the largest building on any Valencia campus \u2013 with 150,000 square feet in academic and support space.<\/p>\n
The new building, which will be designated as Building 4,\u00a0will house the campus library, cafeteria, bookstore, classrooms, as well as one physics lab, two chemistry labs and eight biology labs.\u00a0 The building\u2019s first floor will contain\u00a0a learning support center with\u00a012 math, science and technology tutoring stations, computers and small-group study rooms.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis building has been on our minds for over a decade,\u201d\u00a0Dr. Sanford Shugart, Valencia\u2019s president, told the crowd.\u00a0\u201dToday, ceremonially, we begin this enormous construction project,\u201d which he\u00a0described as \u201ctruly a community effort\u201d involving Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½,\u00a0Osceola County officials, as well as boosters from the community.<\/p>\n
Designed in Southern California \u201cmission style\u201d architecture, the building will consist of\u00a0two wings joined by a four-story atrium.\u00a0 The second floor will be home to a testing center with 100 student stations, plus administrative and faculty offices for Valencia and Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½.\u00a0 The second floor will\u00a0also house the library, a space that college officials\u00a0spent many hours considering.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the early stages of our design process, we asked our students what features they would most like to have in a new library, and they asked for silent study space, spaces to collaborate with friends, high speed internet, and lots and lots of power outlets for their laptops,\u201d said Dr. Kathleen Plinske, president of Valencia\u2019s Osceola Campus. \u201cWhile it seemed like a daunting task to incorporate all of their requests in a single space, we are truly proud of the design that we have developed for our new library.\u201d<\/p>\n
The building was designed by Hunton Brady Architects. Clancy & Theys is the project\u2019s construction manager.<\/p>\n
College officials and the design team from Hunton Brady Architects, designed the building around a green space \u2013 creating a \u201cJeffersonian\u201d lawn, similar to that found at the University of Virginia.<\/p>\n
\u201cDr. Shugart was thinking of a plaza space, with student activities, seating areas, and even outdoor learning areas,\u201d said Hunton Brady vice president Maurizio Maso. \u201cThat\u2019s how we ended up locating the cafeteria on one end, with a loggia or covered area, looking out into the green space. And on the other end of the building, we have a terrace, looking out into the student commons area.\u201d<\/p>\n
The outdoor space will also include three\u00a0courtyards, which will feature benches, power outlets, wireless Internet and six-foot-tall glass slabs that will serve as whiteboards for students and instructors.<\/p>\n
Because the building will have a variety of energy-efficient and green features, such as high-efficiency air-conditioning systems, dual-flush toilets and green materials used in the floors, walls and ceilings, Valencia officials are aiming for the building to be certified as a LEED Silver facility. If it receives that certification, it will be the fourth building at Valencia College to be certified by the U.S. Green Building Council as a LEED facility.<\/p>\n
In addition to the energy-saving features inside Building 4, the landscaping plan will use native plants, which require less irrigation. The new building will also house a cistern to capture rainwater and re-use it.<\/p>\n
Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½,\u00a0which operates a regional campus at Valencia\u2019s Osceola campus, committed $7.5 million to the project. In return, the new building will contain 12 classrooms for Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½, plus an office suite for administration and faculty members.<\/p>\n
Valencia officials also announced\u00a0the sale of engraved bricks, which will be embedded in the entry courtyard of Building 4. Each brick will sell for $100; a portion of the money from the brick sales will be used to support scholarships for Osceola County students.<\/p>\n
The Osceola Campus, founded in 1997, is Valencia\u2019s third-largest campus, with about 12,000 students.\u00a0 Enrollment at the Osceola campus has nearly doubled in the past five years, making it Valencia\u2019s fastest-growing campus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cHave we ever seen a louder buzz on this campus? I don\u2019t think so,\u201d said Raymer Maguire III, chairman of Valencia\u2019s board of trustees. When completed in spring of 2013, the\u00a0four-story building will be the largest building on any Valencia campus \u2013 with 150,000 square feet in academic and support space. The new building, which will be designated as Building…","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":28010,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-twocol.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[2801,3930,5629,5030],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-28009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colleges","tag-leed","tag-regional-campuses","tag-sanford-shugart","tag-valencia-college"],"yoast_head":"\n