University Advancement

Public Relations and Strategic Communications

NEWS RELEASE

CSUN Receives ‘Best Client Award’ from
Architect Institute for Its New Student Union

(NORTHRIDGE, Calif., Feb. 2, 2007) -- Cal State Northridge last month received the "Best Client Award" by the San Fernando Valley chapter of the American Institute of Architects for its work with the team of architects who helped design the newest addition to the University Student Union, the Sol Center. The center also won a design award from the institute.

The "Best Client Award" was created to recognize the positive impact a good architectural design can have on the community.

"Making (the community) a place where people can be proud to live and work. Buildings with which the public interact--even if only visually--benefit the built environment as well as the fabric of social interaction that makes each community special," said Russell E. Myers, 2007 president elect of the chapter, in his letter notifying the architectural firm of Harley Ellis Devereaux of the award.

Myers said the Sol Center project represents the best example "of respect for the welfare of the community by providing an outstanding model of the AIA motto ‘Good design makes a difference.’"

"This is a tremendous honor," said Debra Hammond, executive director of the University Student Union. "The university has been in need of a center like this for so long. Since the building opened in June, both the Sol Center and its adjacent Plaza del Sol have gotten a fantastic response from all who have used it--students, faculty, staff and visitors. They are wonderful additions to the campus."

The new Sol Center is a "smart, green" facility--wireless inside and out--designed for use by students, the campus community and the public. Created with the university’s "learning centered" philosophy in mind, the facility provides places outside the classroom for learning and the exchange of ideas.

The three-story, 28,000-square-foot structure, designed by Harley Ellis Devereaux, features a liberal use of green-tinted glass to maximize the effect of the natural light while minimizing heat load. Large windows, glass-paneled study room doors and the glass of the first floor coffee house employ light as an architectural element. The facility’s "beacon," a tower of wrap-around fritted glass that absorbs and re-directs light, illuminates the nighttime campus.

Conservation, sustainability and affordability were other factors taken into consideration as the facility was designed. Exterior corrugated metals were used to keep cleaning simple. A chiller plant provides chilled and hot water, pumped through a series of pipes and over a fan coil to blow cold or warm air into each room. Bathrooms feature waterless urinals, hands-free faucets and paperless hand driers.

The Sol Center includes a coffee house, study rooms, a television and reading lounge, e-mail stations, a computer lab, a training room, meeting rooms, administrative offices, an executive conference room and a board room equipped with microphones and a plasma screen available by reservation to students and the public.

Plaza del Sol, the center’s outdoor performance plaza, which accommodates up to 800 spectators, which can be viewed from the second- and third-floor balconies.

California State University, Northridge has 34,500 full- and part-time students and offers 62 bachelor’s and 50 master’s degrees as well as 28 teaching credential programs. Founded in 1958, CSUN is among the largest single-campus universities in the nation and the only four-year public university in the San Fernando Valley. The university serves as the intellectual, economic and cultural heart of the Valley and beyond.