Bridging academic achievement with the natural beauty of Marin
BEFORE
{"autoplay":"true","autoplay_speed":"8000","speed":"1000","arrows":"true","dots":"false","loop":"true","nav_slide_column":5,"rtl":"false"}
BEFORE
{"autoplay":"true","autoplay_speed":"8000","speed":"1000","arrows":"true","dots":"false","loop":"true","nav_slide_column":5,"rtl":"false"}

DETAILS

LocationKentfield, California, United States
ClientCollege of Marin, Group 4 Architecture
SERVICE:
Size3 acres

Named for the College of Marin’s former 13-year superintendent, the new Dr. David Wain Coon Center for Student Success serves as the campus centerpiece along College Avenue. In collaboration with architects Group 4 and HMC, the college’s new library and study center reimagines a previously unwelcoming campus edge by transforming it into an open and inviting arrival point. Previously a parking lot and loading dock, the new campus entrance is adorned with several specimen trees and generous vegetation along Corte Madera Creek. A curved walkway leads to the Center for Student Success, complemented by a social plaza and views to the campus and hills beyond. The building’s siting and form, including a series of outdoor terraces, is choreographed to feature views of Mount Tamalpais, Marin County’s landmark. The building and flanking grand stairs engage the campus’ topography by having entrances at both the lower Creekside level and the upper Campus Glade level.

Related Projects

Westmark School

Westmark is a private, second-through-12th-grade school focused on providing quality education to students with learning differences. The project itself has been divided into five separate phases, which will include site renovations for classrooms, courtyards, playgrounds, etc. The school provides a unique student experience that re-envisions traditional educa...

Montclair State University Student Center and Quad

SWA/Balsley collaborated with DIG Architects and Montclair State University to reimagine the campus student center, adjacent quad, and connections to the surrounding campus. Through site analysis and project stakeholder meetings, key pedestrian and vehicular circulation routes were identified for resident students, daily commuters, and University staff. The st...

Northwest Vista College

Northwest Vista College is situated in the oak covered hills west of San Antonio, with beautiful views toward the city and surrounding valley. Previously the design team completed an extensive master plan that accommodated for the expansion of the college facilities to three times its current size. The design seeks to sensitively integrate the nearly 400,000 s...

UCSD Ridge Walk North Living & Learning Neighborhood

UCSD Ridge Walk Living & Learning Neighborhood provides modern living spaces for over 2,400 undergraduate students alongside updated academic spaces, student amenities, and shared commons.

Housing updated administrative and teaching facilities for Thurgood Marshall College, the School of Global Policy and Strategy, and the Department of Economics in...

University of Houston Law Center

The University of Houston Law Center, established in 1947, has earned national recognition, with three of its programs ranked in the top 10 by U.S. News and World Report. Despite these academic accolades, the original Law Center building faced significant challenges due to its location and design. Situated in Houston’s low-lying coastal prairie ecoregion...

Stanford Campus Center

Stanford University Facilities Project Management. Cody Anderson Wasney Architects. The addition of the Campus Center required historic renovation, seismic retrofit and a new addition to mark this important intersection of the campus. Specimen elm, cedar, cypress and Japanese black pine provided the overall setting and the design worked to preserve these impor...

Miwok Aquatic and Fitness Center

Nestled in Novato’s rolling Oak woodlands, the College of Marin’s Miwok Aquatic and Fitness Center provides Northern California with a new destination for aquatic training and competitions. Part of the College’s Indian Valley Campus, the center neighbors over 1,400 acres of open space preserves. ELS and SWA worked closely to lay out the site ...

UC Davis West Village

UC Davis West Village is a new 225-acre development in Davis, California, that responds to a substantial growth in the number of students, faculty and staff living on the University’s campus. The city of Davis is a unique and cherished community, and great care was taken throughout the design and planning process to pay homage to its history and culture. The n...