The new two-story, 57,800-square-foot Center for Business and Technology on San Diego Community College District’s Mesa College campus includes 24 classrooms and laboratories. This facility is unlike any other at Mesa College, designed to feel like a business complex seamlessly transformed into classrooms. Condensing the footprint for classes that were previously scattered across campus, the center serves as the new home for Mesa’s business, digital technology, computer science, fashion, hospitality, and real estate classes. The facility also includes the Dean’s suite and a 20-office faculty suite.

The building was designed with the idea of entering students into an environment that inspires them to become future innovators. The project’s architect, Gensler, crafted the building’s design to replicate iconic business headquarters for firms such as Google and Microsoft, giving students a glimpse into the professional working world.

Featuring state-of-the-art technology, the building includes technology rich classrooms, an expansive case-study room, a large video wall, a fashion design lab, computer labs, and plenty of spaces for students to collaborate. An activated heart of the building is formed by a two-story atrium that links all the academic spaces around a central gathering area and provides a variety of settings for students to socialize, work together in small groups, or study individually between classes. On the exterior, the building’s curved form embraces the campus’ new quad and pedestrian promenade.

In keeping with the district’s Green Building Policy, the Center for Business and Technology is expected to be awarded a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification for green building and design – one of 42 LEED certifications across the District.