LA Trade Tech unveils phase I of massive building spree

Los Angeles Trade Technical College, the career-based community college located on Grand Ave and Washington Bl downtown, completed the first round of an aggressive building campaign early last week. For a long time, the 21-acre campus hardly resembled a college campus at all, and bore more similarities to the gritty industrial tracts that surround it. But administrators are hoping to turn around that rough-hewn image with a sprinkling of new buildings that the architect calls "competitive" with other downtown buildings. This first $85m phase is a small slice of the $600m that voters approved for campus renovations and additions back in 2002.

The two five-story buildings are located on Grand Ave between Washington and 23rd St., and were designed by MDA Johnson Favarro. Both buildings are about 120,000 sf and are expected to receive LEED Silver certification. When the Spring semester begins in February, the buildings will be home to 2 lecture halls; the admissions, registration, and administration offices; and various other offices and classrooms. Plans also call for a rooftop photovoltaic system that will supply up to 20% of the school's electricity demands. Up next for the school are a new track and field, a sports and wellness center, and a construction technology building.

The architecture, which features a suggestive combination of brick and concrete curving in Gehry-esque waves, is meant to represent "trade as art." On the rear are huge letters near the top of the building that spell out LATTC and are visible from the 10 and 110 freeways. The striking contrast of red brick and sinuous white walls forms a pleasing respite from the low, bland architecture that has come to define this stretch of Grand. But the buildings don't feel out of place here, as they seem to pay homage to the area's--and the school's--industrial heritage. The construction is not without fault however. The buildings frame what is dubbed an entry plaza and is meant to establish a new gateway for the campus, but instead forms just a typical driveway complete with security arms, and is hardly welcoming to pedestrians.

Source: LA Downtown News