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Feng Shui Design

Valencia Community College Criminal Justice Institute
Featured Project

Valencia Community College’s 77,000-square-foot Criminal Justice Institute is the first building completed for the college’s 58 acre Public Safety campus that was master planned by the firm to include more than 230,000-square-feet of future construction.  
 
CTH+A designed the state-of-the-art building to reflect the spirit and dignity of those preparing for a career in criminal justice.  The $11.3 million facility will annually train more than 4,000 local and regional police officers, corrections officers and new recruits.  The college offers criminal justice degrees, advanced law enforcement training and a police academy.

The firm’s design team in collaboration with VCC staff decided early on to depart from the concept of large box buildings that are so prevalent on college campuses today.  Instead, the program’s four major components – administration, classrooms, labs and a physical fitness facility – are sited in wings that surround a landscaped courtyard and linked by a glazed double-height lobby and covered walks.

• The administration wing is connected to the classrooms via a bridge across the lobby. 
• The classroom wing includes smart classrooms, simulation spaces and a 911 call center training room.
• Four labs on the east side of the courtyard are designed for large group instruction and training in fire arms safety.
• The physical fitness facility on the south side of the courtyard offers a safe environment for tactical defense training and vehicle-related operations simulation as well as access to the outdoor training fields.

In addition, the southwest corner between the lobby and the fitness facility features a cylindrically-shaped café with indoor and outdoor courtyard seating.  At the northwest corner, the angular volume of the metal-clad teaching auditorium highlights the facility’s main entrance   through the lobby and in the future, the rest of the campus.  Other amenities offered by the facility include an outdoor running track, a practice field, a K-9 training facility and a vehicle driving range.

“The key to success in the construction of an attractive, functional, multi-faceted facility is … securing the services of a top-notch architectural planning group,” according to C. David Smith, director of the Criminal Justice Institute.  “CTH+A is clearly among the industry leaders.  I found them to be open, creative and professional through each of the many steps required to make this innovative state-of-the-art complex a reality.”

C.T. Hsu + Associates, P.A.
820 Irma Avenue • Orlando, FL 32803 • 407 423 0098 • Fax 407 423 4793
CTHSU.com

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