Hartnell College STEM Center Building
Hartnell College
For too long, Hartnell College's science program made do with a facility that had long outlived its usefulness. The new STEM Center Building, funded through Measure H, gives the college's natural and physical sciences curriculum the home it always deserved. Science is in display throughout the new facility, from the Planetarium adjacent to the main entry, to the Foucault pendulum in the first-floor entry demonstrates the Earth's rotation. An "egg drop" balcony not only provides space for the classic physics experiment, but also creates a space for students to gather and collaborate. The atrium doubles as an event space for college and community programming.
The full breadth of Hartnell's sciences curriculum—biology, zoology, micro and molecular biology, physics, astronomy, geology, and engineering—is housed within a single facility for the first time. Dry and wet labs, large lecture rooms, lab prep and hazardous materials storage, collaboration spaces, and dedicated rooms for the State-funded MESA Program serving students on the path to four-year transfer round out the program.
The building takes full advantage of Salinas's temperate coastal climate. The atrium is conditioned entirely by outside air, significantly reducing electrical load, while radiant floor heating on the second floor handles winter warmth without heating the full volume above. Designed to LEED Silver standards, the STEM Center Building is now a landmark of the college and a genuine asset to the broader Salinas community.
