California College of the Arts Opens New Building Amidst $20 Million Operating Deficit

This Fall the California College of the Arts (CCA) will open a new 82,300-square-foot teaching and artmaking facility at 145 Hooper Street. The edifice will connect to the college’s main academic building. It was designed by Studio Gang, an architecture and urban design practice with offices in the City. Following the opening, CCA’s Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts will move from its 360 Kansas Street to the new building. 

The new split-level structure has indoor and outdoor areas for artmaking, including ground level maker spaces, greenspaces, outdoor classrooms, with studios for more traditional artmaking on the upper level. Above these elements are two mass-timber pavilions that contain fine arts studios for graduate students and galleries for exhibitions, as well as a lecture hall and balconies. 

The maker yard is carved out to bring daylight and air deeper into the maker spaces. The building has operable windows, green roofs and a ventilation system designed to work with ceiling fans to reduce daytime energy use. The maker yard and green roofs will assist with stormwater management. The edifice utilizes passive strategies, including self-shading façades and night-flush ventilation, that naturally cool the space and reduce the need for mechanical systems. 

Project funding came from CCA’s Maker/Meets/Future Campaign, a $123 million capital and programmatic fundraising initiative to pay for construction, increase student and faculty support, and expand the college’s community partnership programs. As of July, CCA had raised $122 million toward the campaign goal. 

The new building’s opening coincides with the emergence of a $20 million deficit at the college in part due to a dramatic drop in student enrollment. The financial shortfall will likely trigger staff layoffs and reduce course offerings, and could prompt a merger with another institution.