College design winner named

Jennifer Knight

Thursday, June 7, 2001 | 11:31 a.m.

An energy-conscious design that weaves campus buildings into the red-cliffed berms of Henderson won an architectural contest -- and the contract -- for the first buildings of the Nevada State College.

Two design firms each gave a one-hour presentation on Wednesday before an architectural review committee chose San Francisco-based Field Paoli. Both firms will share $33,000 in prize money. The Board of Regents is expected to vote on the choice when they meet next week.

The Legislature approved construction money for the college on Sunday. The state will provide $13.4 million for the first buildings, and Richard Moore, the state college's founding president, is expected to raise an additional $10 million. Higher education officials are still awaiting word on whether they will receive $1 million in startup money to get the college up and running.

The site for the Nevada State College at Henderson, on Wagon Wheel Drive off U.S. 95, drew diametrically opposed concepts from the firms, which made it difficult to choose, according to several board members.

"The two designs are both very good," said Regent Howard Rosenberg, chairman of the architectural committee. "The one is organic in nature and the other is inorganic."

The winning design incorporated natural elements on the site, such as using craters to create a skylight for a building.

The first phase includes a library, an administrative building and outdoor amphitheater with several classrooms.

Several committee members who voted in favor of the campus concept did so because of the energy efficient elements in the designs.

"I feel that if California is any indication of the energy problems we face, we're going to have to have a much more flexible design," said Claudia Cormier, a community leader who sat on the architectural committee.

Some of the classrooms would use natural light to help offset energy costs. Circular cutouts in the buildings would funnel heat away from the building. Cool air from underground parking structures could also be used to cool classroom, Frank Fuller, the principal architect on the project, said.

The underground parking structures proved to be the most problematic to the board because of the potential cost.

"It seems we would have gone with underground garages with dirt on them a long time ago if we could afford to build them," said Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson, who sat on the architectural committee as an ex-officio member.

Runner-up RNL Design of Denver presented a conceptual design inspired by traditional college campuses throughout the East. The goal, the architect said, was marry the "excitement of Las Vegas while tip-toeing lightly" on the desert environment.

The campus featured wading pools in front, a long, green beltway for an entrance and a beacon that lights up and chimes. Campus buildings were white and linear and featured clustered on-campus housing, a canopied quad area and open-faced parking.

Funding during the 2003-2005 biennium will determine how much the college will be able to build. All phases of the plan, which will be completed over several years as the college grows, includes more than 2 million square feet of enclosed spaces and will accommodate 2,500 students.

State college officials tentatively plan to begin classes in fall 2002 in a temporary facility and have the first phase of the development finished by 2003.