California College of the Arts

The California College of the Arts (CCA) is expanding its San Francisco campus with a new, dual-ground complex featuring art studios, classrooms, and landscaped areas. The design incorporates a flexible floor plan, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and adaptability to emerging technologies. The structural elements for gravity and lateral systems employ glulam and CLT components arranged in layers of vertical and diagonal members. Coffman played a key role in the project, providing code consulting and conducting a hazardous materials assessment.

CCA has grown to include 34 art and design disciplines, from jewelry and metal arts to textiles and ceramics. The new academic building has been designed to unify people and programs by accommodating the various art disciplines within a consolidated space. The collaborative campus seamlessly integrates interior and exterior spaces. This includes the incorporation of multiple mass timber pavilions and open courtyards. The remarkable design not only meets the project’s goals but also earned recognition by winning the California Mass Timber Building Competition.

The project is currently under construction and is estimated to be finished August 2024 in time for the fall semester.

Images courtesy of Kilograph © Studio Gang