Back to All Work

Joliet Junior College Campus Center

Joliet Junior College Joliet, Illinois

Higher Education

New front door renews college’s identity, promotes student success, highlights sustainable advances

The Campus Center creates a new gateway to Joliet Junior College’s main campus. The 115,000-square-foot facility improves student accessibility and showcases the college’s commitment to sustainability.

HIGHLIGHTS

Consolidates student services and library in one location
Student “street” offers visibility of key spaces on three floors
First floor cafeteria is a center for student life at the convergence of three concourses
Second and third levels allow students and faculty to step out onto terraces with green roofs and solar panels

← →

Three Levels of Resources

The first floor includes an Enrollment Center (admissions, financial aid, registration), a Student Success Center (counseling, tutoring, career services), a 380-seat cafeteria with outdoor 34-seat dining area, a bookstore, and access to adjacent buildings. The library, located on the second floor, offers expanded workstations, eight group study rooms, and a café. Third floor administrative spaces include a board room, president’s suite, administrative offices, and a human resources office.

Student Street

Accessibility and visibility are at the root of the design of the student street that runs the length of the facility. First floor student resource spaces are easy to see. When those on the student street look up, they see additional resources that support their success: large windows display students interacting in the library, group study areas, and classrooms on the second floor, while administrative offices occupy the third floor.

joliet-junior-college-campus-center-cafe

A Center for Student Life

The cafeteria, located at the convergence of three concourses, represents a center for student life. Its central location maximizes foot traffic.

Terraced to Impress

A highly articulated façade expresses the modular interior layout and creates a striking aesthetic in comparison to the surrounding unarticulated two-story buildings. The palette of exterior materials respects the existing campus context.

joliet-junior-college-campus-center-terrace

joliet-junior-college-campus-center-greenway

Geothermal System

84 geothermal wells that reduce the building’s energy toll extend 450 feet beneath the greenway that connects the Campus Center to the parking lot. The geothermal system comes into the building through a “pump room,” which students can see through a glass wall.

← →