Del Mar Community College South Campus

Location: Corpus Christi, TX
Area: 245,000 SF
Year: 2019
Role: Design Director
Awards: 2019 AIA Houston Design Award,
2019 AIA Corpus Christi Design Award.

Team:
GENSLER,
Alan Colyer
Paul Wilhelms, AIA
Luis Ayala, AIA
Nicole Barrios, AIA
Tom Bett, AIA
Juli Cash, IIDA
Stephanie Wherry, AIA
Ryley Poblete
Paulina Abella
Zein Atout
Nina Schwach, AIA
TURNER RAMIREZ,
Philip Ramirez, AIA
Kira Bonesteel, AIA
Brian Bieneck.

The design team strived to make the space feel unique to Corpus Christi and began studying how to incorporate elements found within the community into the design, such as the local beaches and windmills. When winds interact with a body of water, a recognizable pattern is created in the form of waves. Similar patterns can also be found in studying sand at the beach. This understanding that a body of water and sand are comprised of millions of smaller elements that all move in unison when a major force acts upon them served as a major inspiration to the design team. By comparing each individual within a community to a grain of sand or a drop of water, and education to the wind as the major force that allows us to better ourselves, collectively, we are moving in unison, creating the same inspirational patterns found within the waves and sand. This is the story of Del Mar, an institution working with the community providing a clear vision of bettering its individuals and improving their city: a sum of all parts