Higher Education
Southwest Virginia Community College: Learning Resource Center.
Richlands, Virginia
The Learning Resource Center is a 44,000 SF facility that houses the campus library, learning activity center, distance education program, and the ODU Teletech New Program. The building was designed to be the symbol and center of communication and electronic teaching. The design is a two-story building with the upper story level with the main campus. Located on the lower level are the distance education spaces, broadcast area, and TV studio. A secondary, lower level entry (created by cutting back the hillside) leads to the distance education space.
Southwest Virginia Community College is a campus constructed on a mountainside ridge with spectacular views of the surrounding mountains. The Learning Resource Center is at the center of campus and contributed to the connection between the upper and lower campus buildings, which are separated by a vertical grade change of 70 feet. This remote rural campus is a commuter school, heavily dependent on technology and distance learning to connect it with the rest of the state.
