Evergreen Valley College Sequoia Hall Upgrades and Nursing Addition

Coffman provided acoustic consulting services for the upgrades to Sequoia Hall and Nursing Addition at Evergreen Valley College in San Jose, California. The project included a 15,000 sf, two-story addition to the nursing school and upgrades to the adjacent 27,000 sf existing instructional space. In addition to flexible classrooms and observation booths for professors to train students, the mock patient rooms and a sterile corridor in the new addition were designed to simulate an intensive care unit in a hospital or clinic, preparing students for immediate entrance into the patient care workforce.

The scope of work included full acoustic design, sound isolation recommendations for acoustically-sensitive spaces, mechanical noise and vibration control for the roof-top mounted equipment, acoustic considerations for the classrooms, and material and assembly recommendations to optimize acoustic performance throughout the facility. Additionally, the team provided construction and post-construction support with site visits and submittal reviews.

The project aimed to deliver a high-performance acoustic environment that supports learning, collaboration, and wellness. To achieve this, Coffman collaborated closely with the design team to create an acoustically optimized environment by integrating sustainable finishes in high-volume spaces such as the lobby, carefully balancing aesthetics with acoustic performance in the selection of room finishes.

Photograph by Andrew Rugge. Copyright Perkins Eastman.