The College of San Mateo has a highly diverse student body which encompass a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds. Striving to provide more social and academic opportunities for different student groups, the school created The Center for Student Life and Leadership Development. To start the design process, CAW Architects led a robust outreach process, directly working with student groups representing Black, Pacific Islander, and students from the juvenile justice system to learn what specifically will best support them at this new center for student life.
CAW Architects redesigned the existing single-story office space into flowing, open social gathering spaces and then converted the central outdoor courtyard into a brightly light indoor atrium that functions as a shared social hall for all groups to use. This simple conversion redefines the building, and forms a new center for student life.
