Professional Schools

The Digital Media Arts Center project was developed for Chapman University’s Film School. The design’s primary purpose: to provide an ‘ideation’ lab or creative collaboration studio for faculty and students to exchange ideas and further their craft. Formerly the California Wire & Cable Company building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the California Register of Historical Resources, it now functions with 2D animation classrooms, green screen studios, an art classroom, faculty offices and a small but well-appointed, stepped screening room.

The layout of the program takes full advantage of the restored historic shell, made primarily out of brick, by utilizing the expansive glass and steel frame windows and the unique collection of sculptural light monitors and skylights which bathe the interior space in light. The seemingly irregular plan speaks to this alignment of new program and existing site conditions. The primary social spaces and collaboration lounge are located directly beneath the grand light monitor - wrapped in floor to ceiling tack board, Idea Paint and writable translucent glass walls.

Organized as a interconnected series of collaboration spaces, the design trades hallways and corridors for a more academic approach to circulation providing places for exchange and serendipity. Built in niche benches, an oversized communal table, a natural wood communal table and individual student lockers aim to keep students engaged and in the facility before and after classes. A catering bar just inside the glass entry and a BBQ grill just outside ties together the interior social arena with the sizeable exterior covered patio, allowing students to work and collaborate outdoors. The trellis and canopy are integrated into the existing historic architecture and feature a grid of pendant lights that extend the usefulness of the terrace well into the evening hours.

The School of Law occupies this complex on Chapman University’s main campus in Orange. The main building, rising four stories and providing 133,000 SF, offers an efficient and pleasant learning environment for students. Classrooms and seminar rooms are equipped with state-of-the-art equipment for enhanced teaching and learning and are capable of accommodating future changes in electronic, visual and on-site learning technologies. 

The law library occupies one wing of the building, offering student carrels equipped with outlets for laptop computers and related electronic devices. Two courtrooms, one designed for trials and the other for appellate hearings, provide fully equipped facilities for trial advocacy exercises, mock trial and moot court competitions, and formal hearings by visiting courts. Student lounges and facilities for student organizations are included. In addition, a new 720-car parking structure at the rear of the law building provides parking for students, faculty and visitors.

The design of Fertitta Hall reinforces USC's mission of educating, recruiting and retaining the best and the brightest entrepreneurs and business leaders. The focus remained on creating a facility that is intensely collaborative and interactive utilizing the latest technology to support their unique educational pedagogy as well as provide abundant support spaces creating the student-centric environment with social gathering, food services, lounges, and study space.

The building adds 104,000 square feet of building space, meeting all instructional needs for the undergraduate program. This includes 21 classrooms, two of which are active learning, a 150-seat lecture hall, 50 breakout rooms, an improved Experiential Learning Center, and a library/collaboration area. Also included is a café, lounge, offices for the undergraduate program and the admissions office for the Marshall School of Business. The addition of Fertitta Hall resolves the issues of a lack of meeting space and individual and group study space and will allow students to be engaged between classes and after hours. 

Fertitta Hall provides significant outdoor space via an outdoor courtyard, shared with the adjacent Graduate School of Business, as well as gathering spaces outside on Childs Way for the students to meet, interact, and study. The building is certified LEED Gold, reinforcing the social responsibility mission of the school.