Furthering Education on Campus

St. Louis Community College commissioned KAI to perform a due diligence study and conceptual site planning for a new, urban education center to be located in north St. Louis. After completing the study and making recommendations, KAI was selected to provide architectural and MEP/FP design services for the new William J. Harrison Education Center.

KAI designed the new, two-story, 30,265 SF building to serve 400 to 500 credit students and 4,500 continuing education students. The public entrance faces the corner of the site, emphasized by a transparent stair tower. State-of-the-art elements such as Smartboards and high-tech audio-visual equipment are utilized throughout the William J. Harrison Education Center.

The new education center supports a variety of programs, such as early care education, information systems, art, and general sciences in addition to community continuing education, serving as a satellite to the St. Louis Community College’s Forest Park campus.

Sustainable design was also a priority for the St. Louis Community College, and the Harrison Education Center was designed to achieve LEED® Gold Certification. KAI’s design team conducted a charrette with the St. Louis Community College to develop a LEED® scorecard, setting priorities and associated costs for sustainable design elements to meet the requirements for Gold certification.