The Architecture Discipline Building (ADB) is the new home of the El Paso Community College (EPCC) + Texas Tech University (TTU) Partnership 2 + 2 Architecture Program.
Architect: Alvidrez Architecture
Principal: David A. Alvidrez, AIA
Design Team: Ivan Lopez, Jose Lopez, Oscar Lucero, Sara Cante, Patrizia Bower, Ismael Olivares, Daniel Barbosa, Franco Reyes
Construction Administration: Ivan Lopez, Jose Lopez
Structural: HKN Engineers, MEP: FMS Engineering, Civil: Sitework Engineering, Landscape: Desert Elements
Contractor: Banes General Contractors
El Paso Community College: Aditi Sarkar (Program Coordinator), Tony Badillo (Dean of Architecture), Dr. Carlos Amaya (Dean of Architecture), Kenneth Gorski, AIA (Director)
Photography: Many Madole
The program consists of a two-year Associates of Art in Architecture Degree at EPCC + two years at Texas Tech University to receive a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture. This is the only architecture program in the region; within a 266 mile radius.
The ADB is located on the college’s flagship “Valle Verde” Campus. The “Valle Verde” Campus began its construction in 1979 and is comprised of very solid buildings with a prominent use of well-crafted concrete + brick walls. These introverted buildings are organized around central courtyards/plazas lush with landscape creating places to ponder and designating points of entry for each of the campus facilities.
The new addition to this campus, the Architecture Discipline Building (ADB), sits above an elevated courtyard/plaza setting. The plaza adjacency complements the existing campus order but predominantly facilitates interior/exterior connections. By elevating most of the program to the second floor, the building serves as a shading canopy at the courtyard/plaza level, creating supplementary exterior collaborative spaces, and reinforcing student points of convergence. Essential to the ADB is to engage those students outside the architecture curriculum. The building’s transparency allows students to explore the field of architecture through the exposure of architectural student work + experience the animation of events such as a lecture series at various instances throughout the year.
In its interior configuration, expansive open spaces allow students from all studios to interact + share ideas; cultivating a sense of community. Disclosure of structural, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems promote the learning environment + provide a head start into the architectural profession. All studios welcome natural light through a series of apertures that capture the “Valle Verde” Campus + allow for an aerial view of the entire City of El Paso + its border sister City of Ciudad Juarez; a connection back to where most of these students grew up; an open canvas where students will implement their ideas in the future.
