Berliner is working with South Orange County Community College District to design two new outdoor learning classrooms at Irvine Valley College. These spaces will serve as a template for future outdoor learning spaces on the campus. After narrowing in on the site, the team studied the regional context, historical imagery, adjacencies, circulation, outdoor spaces, and natural lighting of both the site and the greater Irvine Valley College Campus.

Once the site was selected, the team, led by Principal Architect Richard Berliner, Project Architect Eric Rutgers, and Project Manager Rahel Zewdu, worked with university staff to develop project goals and opportunities to address pressing needs, such as lighting, acoustics, security, and student capacity. Based on their research and meetings with university staff, the team developed multiple schemes for two classrooms.

The site is split into two classrooms on either side of a central walkway that supports different styles of learning. The east classroom will support larger lecture-style classes while the west classroom will support smaller groups with a large table for demonstrations.

Having received necessary district approvals, the team will now be proceeding with construction documents and submitting to DSA for permitting this Fall.