California studio Clive Wilkinson Architects used bright colours, ample glazing and angled lines to create a media campus in Los Angeles' Silicon Beach that aims to break down "the schism between education and the workplace".
Founded in 1929, Santa Monica College is located in an area referred to as Silicon Beach due to the prevalence of media firms and tech startups. The college's Center for Media and Design offers degrees in fields such as entertainment technology, graphic design and film production.

LA-based Clive Wilkinson Architects was charged with renovating and expanding an existing academic building, along with creating a new facility for the radio station KCRW, which is licensed to the school. A member station of National Public Radio, KCRW broadcasts music, news and talk-based programming. The design team spent countless hours analysing curricula, visiting classrooms and conducting visioning sessions. The client was focused on creating a learning environment that truly prepared students for their chosen professions and broke down "the schism between education and the workplace".

"Early on, it became clear that the client considered instructional education alone insufficient preparation for a world in constant flux," the team said.
"The new campus that resulted is a symbiotic experiment in co-locating a media education programme and a professional broadcasting organisation to maximise the collateral benefits between the two re...