Santa Rosa Junior College, Bailey Parking Facility and Clock Tower

Santa Rosa, California

Firm

BSA+A/Buck Simpers Architect + Associates, Inc.

Client

Sonoma County Community College District

Area

378,000 sq.ft.

Total Cost

$40,000,000

Completion Date

09/2007

The Santa Rosa Junior College campus is 85 years old and made up almost entirely of brick buildings. The college’s students are mainly commuters (35,000+ annually), and the school suffered from a lack of parking on campus. The new parking garage is in a prominent location on the main access road to the campus and adjacent to original 1918 heritage brick buildings. It includes a grand stair and clock tower, and houses 1,100 parking spaces, a gain of 700 spaces.
The new parking facility was designed to:
-Accommodate the growing commuter student population’s parking needs without taking up a large footprint.
-Redefine the major pedestrian route to the center of campus with a clock tower, and new landscape and hardscape development.
-Blend beautifully with and honor the college’s existing heritage brick facilities and neighboring brick high school buildings.
-Create a new strong collegiate presence on the major street that runs past the college campus, but does not look like a parking facility.