Design underway for New Arts and Media Building at MiraCosta College

The new facility will serve as the campus’s arts hub with an art gallery, media arts lab, and display area
​for student works.

The design of MiraCosta’s future new Arts and Media Building at the Oceanside Campus is underway, creating a state-of-the-art hub on campus and bringing together arts programs currently located in multiple buildings.

The New Arts and Media Building will support certificate and degree programs in the arts, including art history, digital photography, museum studies, studio arts, and media arts and technologies, including graphic design and digital media. Demand for professionals in these fields continues to grow. The San Diego Workforce Partnership has identified digital media as one of the top career subsectors in San Diego County. The Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that employment in arts and design occupations is projected to grow four percent through 2030. The median annual wage for art and design occupations is higher than for all occupations.
 
The 10,471 square foot Arts and Media facility will include several unique features, including:

• A spacious new and museum-quality Art Gallery
• A Media Arts Lab
• A 40-person classroom
• Student study spaces
• Extensive spaces for displaying student artworks, both indoors and outdoors
• Dedicated spaces for students to study and collaborate

 
It will also include ‘green’ design elements, including extensive use of natural daylighting, which research has shown to improve student wellbeing and productivity. High-efficiency fixtures will be used throughout. Exterior and interior finishes will feature eco-friendly materials. The landscaping will include low-water and native species.
 
“The planning and imagining for this new facility has been so rewarding, and it will be a real asset for the Oceanside Campus to have world-class facilities that honor and celebrate our programs in the creative and applied arts,” explains Leigh Cotnoir, department chair for MiraCosta College’s Media Arts and Technologies. “These are areas of passion for both our faculty and our students, and we are excited to provide them with the facilities they deserve and that will enhance artistic expression and applications of design,” Cotnoir added.
 
The design for the $21 million facility is on track to be submitted to the Division of the State Architect (DSA) for approval in April 2022.
 
HMC Architects and Balfour Beatty serve as the design-build partnership leading the project, expected to start construction fall 2022 and complete by spring 2024.
 
The program and construction manager for the capital improvement program is Kitchell Capital Expenditures Manager (CEM), in association with Element Consulting, Inc., and Vic Salazar Communications.
Detailed information about all of the District’s Capital Improvement projects is available for public review through the Capital Improvement Dashboard on the MCCD website. The Dashboard provides build-out details, financial performance, and project schedule performance.

About MiraCosta College

The MiraCosta Community College District has served the coastal North San Diego County area for over 80 years. More than 19,000 credit students annually in over 70 disciplines enroll in associate degrees, university transfer and workforce readiness certificate programs. The college also serves over 7,000 students a wide spectrum of educational needs in the region ranging from programs for adult education, community education, basic skills, and ESL to a California Community College pilot program offering the nation’s first baccalaureate degree in biomanufacturing. As a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), veteran and military supportive institution, and Achieving the Dream Leader College, MiraCosta College fosters the academic and holistic success of its diverse learners within a caring and equitable environment to strengthen the educational, economic, cultural, and social well-being of the communities it serves. MiraCosta College is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).