Learning Resource Center | Suffolk County Community College
Brentwood, New York
70,000 SF | information commons | reference information and tech help desks | auditorium | reference and general collections | media center | academic tutoring center | writing center | computer lab | faculty athenaeum | board room
The Learning Resource Center at Suffolk County Community College is a lantern of learning. A simple mass of nine
cubes arranged in a three-by-three grid accommodates the library program on two floors. Portions of the cubes are
either removed or expanded to create an interplay between negative and positive space that allows the Learning
Resource Center to act as a prism that casts sunlight deep into the building throughout the day. The building takes its
place at the center of the Suffolk County Community College campus, at the confluence of major pedestrian pathways
between the Caumsett Student Center and the Health / Sports / Education Center, and between the major student
parking lots for this commuter college. A glassy cupola rises above the building to create an iconic expression, a beacon
visible from all corners of the campus.
The Learning Resource Center presents opportunities for team-based, experiential, and problem-based learning by
providing a variety of learning environments: group study rooms, seminar rooms, flat-floor computer classrooms, open
tutoring classrooms, and a 100-seat lecture hall. At the heart of the building—beneath the lantern—lies the Information
Commons, which accommodates computer workstations, technology and reference help desks, and casual reading
areas. The Center for Academic Excellence is on axis with the Information Commons and flanked by the College’s
Writing Center. Library stacks lined with carrels for individual study, faculty seminar room and offices, and a landscaped
roof garden for reading occupy the second floor, as does the College’s Boardroom, also used by Suffolk County for
municipal meetings.
A ventilated terra cotta rain screen façade, green roof, and photo-optic lighting controls are sustainable design
strategies that contribute to the building’s LEED Silver certification.
The project was realized in collaboration with Architect-of-Record Wiedersum Associates Architects.