W+P Awarded CSU-Chico Renewal Contract

 

Campus Consulting Architects - California State University, Chico:

Williams + Paddon is proud to have recently been selected as California State University, Chico’s Campus Consulting Architects for the third consecutive year! Proposal and interview evaluations led the University’s campus selection committee to award this contract to W+P in conjunction with DLR Group. Over the past two years, the W+P team has served in this capacity and developed a deep understanding of the University’s Programs, Priorities & Campus Standards. We are privileged to have worked on several significant projects on campus, including the following:

Student Services Plaza and Stage –

The overall design inspiration for the project draws on the busiest pedestrian intersections at the point where the First Street Promenade crosses the Meriam breezeway. Emphasizing this ‘node’ is the formation of the circular geometry, which becomes the heart of the plaza. The focal point of the node is the event stage located on the centerline of the breezeway. The geometry of the plaza is further reinforced by a number of additional elements. The Marketplace terrace of the Bell Memorial Union extends to embrace the stage from the east, providing additional sitting, eating and viewing areas. The westerly edge is bordered by the extension to the existing bioswale and new Sequoia grove. To the south, the existing Sequoia grove grows into the plaza, reinforcing the transition between the courtyard of the Student Services Building and the plaza.

First Street Promenade –

This project entailed the renovation of the First Street corridor between Bell Memorial Union and Salem Street, extending into the lawn in front of Trinity Hall and down Normal and Chestnut Streets to Second Street. The existing areas did not provide a sense of pedestrian scale, or opportunity for gathering and seating areas within a shaded setting. W+P’s design continues the cadence of landscape, pedestrian luminaires, site furnishings and hardscape developed by W+P at the adjacent Student Services Center Plaza. These improvements combine to create a more humble, human scale to the pedestrian movements through the campus. Additionally, comprehensive utility upgrades including the provision for future utility needs for future campus building projects.

University Police Department Building and Normal Avenue Parking Facility –

This 360-stall mixed use facility fits appropriately into the Downtown Chico context. The 8,300 SF “storefront” University Police Department will be visible and accessible to both students and local residents. The vastly expanded facility serves as the central nerve station of the University, providing all emergency functions including 911 emergency dispatch and continuous monitoring of the security, communications and intrusion alarm systems for the University. Additionally, it serves as the Emergency Operations Center and provides a critical linkage to local and statewide authorities.

The Normal Avenue Parking Structure provides parking density at one of the major portals to campus and incorporates pedestrian plazas on Second Street to accommodate flow between the residential neighborhoods to the south, the immediately adjacent transit hub to the east, and the University campus to the north. It is also accessible from the University's Performing Arts Center, serving as pre-function space for Performing Arts patrons, as well as a convenient gathering space for ride sharing.