Campus Center

A vast, mixed-use college program is conceived as a vertical campus to carve out a brand-building urban identity in the heart of Miami.

Located on a prominent downtown site, Campus Center proposes a dynamic gateway to Miami Dade College. We developed the program vertically into a pair of towers to achieve the highest density possible. This led to an exciting blend of student, staff, and public spaces that optimize spatial efficiency and enable a cross-pollination of functions and experiences. It includes leasable commercial space to generate revenue for the college—and the vibrancy that comes with mixed-use—as well as a lifestyle-focused environment designed to attract student enrollments.

Defining elements of the design include a greenery-filled, open-air retail podium with shops and cafes, a third-story social quad as the heart of student life, and a “sky” quad with fitness and well-being activities. Each space is a hub and catalyst, supporting a vibrant college culture and identity: connecting and drawing people up through the interior to the various study, play, and living floors.

This interior planning generates a distinctive portal form, providing for a flow of activity, people, light, air, and views through the site. The carved, contoured center is unique on the Miami skyline, and its proposed LEED®-certified steel structure is incredibly efficient. Other sustainable practices include an e-glass curtain wall, solar panels, rainwater harvesting, and micro gas turbines for on-site power generation.

A concise, concentrated solution to a complex set of requirements, our proposal builds the Miami Dade College brand, acts as a social catalyst for students and staff, and revitalizes the surrounding urban neighborhood.

Location
Miami, Florida, USA
Size
2,500,000 SF
Year
2006
Status
Concept
Scope
Architecture, Interior Design
Project Team
Chad Oppenheim, Timothy Archambault, Carl Römer, Ana Calderon, Andrea Perelli, Carlos Ramos, Eduardo Quintero, Francisco Llado, Germán Brun, Gianpaolo Pietri, Helen Zhao, Hugo Mijares, Joshua Sacks, Juan López, Lizmarie Esparza, Marie-Pierre Pare, Piero Valtolina, Robert Moehring, Santhosh Shanmugam, Sebastian Velez,
Image Credit
DBOX, Olalekan Jeyifous

Campus Center

Info