Pub. 2 2019 Directory

32 NORTHERN NEVADA ARCHITECTECTURE .19 | 2019 | www.aiann.org INSTITUTIONAL CIVIC — SIERRA NEVADA JOB CORPS CAFETERIA T he campus is located at the base of the foothill landscape in north Reno within a small but growing residential community, where views of the lower Sierras and Peavine Mountain make for an ideal setting. This building is the 9th building to be added to the campus, which began its second generation of newly developed buildings in 2003. The Sierra Nevada Job Corps Center is located on 45 acres north of Reno in facilities that used to be a part of the Stead Air Force Base, which was in operation from 1942-1966. Job Corps is administered by the U.S. Department of Labor to improve the lives of students through career technical and academic training. The center’s mission is to teach eligible young people the skills they need to become employable and independent and place them in meaningful jobs or further education. A campus masterplan was updated and executed in 2003 when eight new buildings were built between 2003 and 2006. Site amenities included a centralized outdoor quad, recreational fields, campus pedestrian paths and parking areas. The center set forth to provide educational facilities that support straightforward construction that is timeless yet provides iconic architecture that adds distinctive learning environments. This building was intended to create a student hub at the center of campus to replace the existing deteriorated cafeteria (which previously served as the military mess hall). As a joint venture, the Department of Labor and the Department of Energy wanted this facility to present a sustainable state-of-the-art learning, serving, and social environment that openly connects to the campus and takes advantage of views. By day, it’s a culinary arts learning environment and cafeteria, and by night it’s the social center for student life after school. Recognizing the Jobs Corps’ optimistic goals to make this an impressive addition to the campus under strict budget restraints, the design team looked for ways to economize moves for maximum benefit in creating a place that transformed the eating and learning environment and its effect on the evolution of a centralized campus life. The design team created a vision of simplicity and transparency so as to maximize the probability of the center achieving their programmatic goals within budget and to make a building that acts as a lantern on campus. The building’s simple shed form and transparency offer both an inside and outside student congregation area that is now the front porch for the campus. To bring students together, the building design provides a place for connection, social interaction, eating, and study. As a joint venture with the Department of Energy, this project has been awarded LEED Silver certification. The design responds to the high desert climate of northern Nevada and the actual energy use will be monitored by the Department of Energy to quantify the benefits of incorporating sustainable strategies. b MERIT