Saiful Bouquet is the structural engineer for the new 2-story, 93,000 sq. ft. Library & Academic Resource Center at Los Angeles Valley College. It is intended to serve as the campus’ academic heart, accommodating the campus’ 17,000 students and replacing the existing library, built in the 1960s. It houses not only library functions, but also the academic resource center, the staff training and development center, and a campus museum/archive.
Featured spaces include a computer commons, math lab, writing center, reading center, tutoring center, and five lab/classrooms. The exterior design is consistent with the campus standards developed by the college’s master plan and uses a range of screen walls to frame outdoor spaces and entrances. The interior planning of the L/ARC places the computer lab as the central nexus of the building’s programmed activities, with diverse academic and research support activities surrounding it. Eccentric Braced Frames were used in both directions for the seismic load with concrete on metal deck. The structure used a complex Diaphragm design with considerable amount of large size openings. The building is designed to achieve LEED Gold certification and is fully wired for computer use, with wireless zones that allow laptop connectivity throughout the entire facility.
