Description
The master plan for St. Charles Community College, a new campus on 140 acres of rolling land in a rapidly developing suburb, recognizes that commuting students of many ages leave and return to the campus several times during the day. To incorporate convenient perimeter parking, buildings are positioned to create a sequence of sheltered internal courtyards. Reminiscent of Matisse’s cutouts, simple building forms define the negative space of interconnected courtyards varying in shape and landscape treatment.
Shaping the campus’s open spaces was as much a consideration as the design of the buildings. The main plaza, occupying a high ridge plateau outside metropolitan St. Louis, offers a grand view of Missouri’s rolling hills, farmland, and distant villages. A man-made lake links the images of natural forms to the built environment. The campus’s 230,000 sf of built space consists of an academic building, student center, learning resource center, and campus services building; anticipated expansion will further enhance the environment and respect original planning principles.