Calif. State University’s new ‘library-plus’ building bridges upper and lower campuses

A three-story “library-plus” building at California State University, East Bay (CSUEB) that ties together the upper and lower campuses was recently completed. The 100,977-sf facility, known as the Collaborative Opportunities for Research & Engagement (“CORE”) Building, is one of the busiest libraries in the CSU system. The previous library served 1.2 million visitors annually.

The new building offers students 700 more seats and 21 more group study rooms than the facility it replaced. Much more than a library, CORE brings traditional library services together with learning, innovation, and technology; collaboration and engagement; and social justice, diversity and sustainability.

It houses the Student Center for Academic Achievement (SCAA—for peer tutoring and study groups) and the Hub for Entrepreneurship, both of which help students become self-directed learners in the Information Age economy.

Equipped with state-of-the-art information and audio-visual technologies, the building provides diversity of spaces to support study rooms and collaborative commons along with multimedia production and library spaces for print and digital collections, archives, and special collections.

Generous open space and fenestration help knit the interior into a cohesive sum of many essential parts. In anticipation of earning LEED Gold certification, the building’s HVAC system aims for healthy indoor air quality, high levels of user controllability, and exceptional energy efficiency.

Each of CORE’s three stories offers a different approach to learning designed to help develop lifelong skills. The library is on Level Two. Level One houses a collaboration zone and innovation labs. Level Three is home to the SCAA and a roof deck provides an additional place for quiet study.

The visual dialogue within the building’s interior emphasizes the relationship between spaces that serve both the academic and social needs of students. CORE’s structure and functionality were designed to help CSUEB hone a distinct identity in the Bay Area’s rich educational landscape and enable it to be viewed as something more than a “commuter school.”

On the building team:
Owner and/or developer: California State University, East Bay
Architect of record, design architect: Carrier Johnson + Culture (Exterior)
Associate Architect: Anderson Brulé Architects (Interior)
MEP engineer: Integral Group
Structural engineer: Forell/Elsesser Engineers
General contractor/construction manager: Rudolph and Sletten