Victoria College, Emerging Technology Complex

Victoria, Texas

Firm

RMA Architects

Client

Victoria College

Area

116,000 sq.ft.

Total Cost

$22,800,000

Completion Date

04/2015

Design team
Billy Berger, AIA (Principal); Brad Kocurek, AIA (Associate); Patrick Ohrt (Associate); Rawley McCoy, AIA (Principal)

The Emerging Technology Complex is a dynamic multiuse facility composed of two buildings: the Conference and Education Center and the Industrial Training Center. The complex features versatile meeting spaces that accommodate conferences and conventions of all sizes. The training center prepares students for careers in local manufacturing and technical industries.
The Conference and Education Center is a three-story, 72,000-square-foot facility that is the showpiece of the complex. It is one of only 140 facilities in the nation to be certified by the International Association of Conference Centers.
The Meeting Hall can accommodate up to 400 people and can be divided into smaller rooms for multiple events to take place simultaneously. It is surrounded on both the first and second floors by smaller conference and meeting rooms, each with state-of-the-art audio/visual capabilities.
A marquee meeting room over the lobby is designed as a transparent cube that floats over the main front doors to provide a visually compelling feature that defines the main entrance. The third level contains classrooms and computer labs and houses the college’s workforce development and continuing education programs.
The Industrial Training Center is a two-story, 44,000-square-foot facility dedicated to training students in industrial trades for multiple local industries. The first level features six large, open training bays where students receive hands-on instruction. The bays have an open plan with flexible utilities that can be easily reconfigured to the requirements of an individual trade. Translucent ribbon windows provide diffuse natural light throughout the space. The second level contains classrooms that work in conjunction with the training bays. Each classroom overlooks its associated training bay so students can observe the hands-on training below.