Building on the successes of the new Center for Nursing and Health Sciences at the Forest Park Campus, the Florissant Valley Campus of St. Louis Community College is planning for a similar facility to extend education capacity across the broader St. Louis region.  

The Florissant Valley campus, however, features rolling topography and many mature trees.  The site selected for the new facility is adjacent Interstate 270, which will leverage the new construction to raise awareness about the College’s offerings, but presents a challenging grade change of nearly 30’ from east to west. 

The building is designed so as to take advantage of the grade, offering discreet entrances for clinic patients at the lower level and for students at floor 1.  Accordingly, the site design offers a patient entry plaza with accessible parking nearby and ample waiting and pick up seating.  This space also offers break out spaces for students who spend long days in practicum labs to enjoy the outdoors on their breaks. 

At the student entry plaza, flexible furnishings are tucked beneath a large building overhang to offer a shaded spot for studying and gathering.  Connecting the upper and lower plazas, the site is organized along a strong east/west axis that connects the new building into the larger campus fabric.  The grade change along this connector is mitigated through a stepped amphitheater and planting area to act as informal seating and gathering among Missouri native plant species.