Dallas College’s Richland campus, which opened in 1972, was originally carefully designed to preserve the existing trees and lakes on what was once farmland in North Dallas – ensuring those natural features are part of the campus’ fabric. The school’s architecture, defined by simple but bold concrete forms framing planes of brick, is softened by surrounding trees and water that flows around and under the buildings. As the campus has grown over the years, it has maintained that strong architectural identity and sense of place.

Corgan’s challenge was to design a new 98,500-square-foot school of business building that reflects the simple elegance of its surroundings yet embraces advances in technology – and securing its place as a work of architecture well into the future. Siting and orienting the building and was key, both in its form and the negative space it frames. The building is a simple two-story “L” formed by a bar of instructional spaces to the north and a smaller block of administrative spaces to the south.

A glass collaborative space bridges the two buildings and frames a new portal to the campus, defining its east edge. That portal leads to a tree-filled plaza that the design team considered as important as the building itself, symbolizing the educational journey of the student. Landscape connections tie this building to the rest of the campus. Exterior vocabulary and aesthetics embrace the importance of place, drawing strong inspirations from the existing buildings for materiality and volume.

Design: Corgan
Project Team: Steve Hulsey, Sangeetha Karthik, Jessica Garcia, Aakarsh Kuppanda, David Zatopek, Kelly Arredondo, Taylor Lukasek
Photography: Kurt Griesbach for Corgan