Big Bend Community College PTEC

The new, two-story technical building for Big Bend Community College houses the College’s technical training programs, including automotive, welding, fabrication, maintenance mechanics, and industrial systems technology programs. The second floor provides classrooms for computer science and STEM programs.

The 8-acre site is located in an arid desert ecosystem. As such, landscaping needed to be sustainable, highly water-conscious, and low-maintenance. The plant palette was primarily native/native-adapted and was developed with input from faculty in the Botany Department to provide teaching opportunities for the curriculum.

Working closely with the civil engineer, SPVV designed expansive dry creek beds throughout the site to carry, treat, and store stormwater from the rooftop and surrounding hardscape surfaces. The creek beds’ borders and basins were comprised of locally sourced basalt and river rock from the Columbia Basin region.

SPVV also designed a plaza at the entrance of PTEC. Large columns of basalt were installed on edge and carefully grouped to create gathering areas for students to study or socialize outside the classroom.