Pierce College STEM Building

The new Pierce College STEM building is designed to provide a ‘radical welcome’ to the sciences for students at Pierce College. The design model was used by the team to study a series of layered relationships within the campus/building to define a meaningful place for learning and advanced science education. These layers included how the building both defined the eastern edge of the quad and was sited to preserve an important existing stand of forest and related ecology. How daylight defines the approach to and movement up through the building. Finally, how the open collaborative learning spaces shaped the building form and defined an entry into the sciences. The design model was important for the team to study how these layers developed and shaped this junction on campus, within the ecology, and the educational path of Pierce College students.an’s forests, emerging at a cool Pacific coast. Architectural cues such as changing light quality, spatial variation, and physical descent create an immersive, enveloping experience. As guests travel through the building, unique exhibit designs engage the visitor’s emotions, spark their curiosity, and as they catch their breath, build in them a passion for our global ocean.