Customer Nothing says "we're all about the future of teaching and learning" quite like a campus comprised of five brand-new buildings. Austin Community College's Round Rock Campus offers courses in a wide range of areas, including professional radiology, nursing, health and kinesiology, computer science, advanced technology, automotive technology, building construction and continuing education. Altogether, ACC's eight campuses offer 235 degrees and certificates, plus a wide range of other educational opportunities.

Location Austin, Texas

Number of people served Over 60,000 students are enrolled in the ACC
system

izzy+ Sales Representative Kristi Nelson, MDI Resources

Design Julie Zitter, GSC Architects/Austin, TX

The need

There’s no question that a brand-new campus is exciting for instructors and
students—everything is fresh and state-of-the-art. But unless the spaces
succeed in bringing people together and making learning more meaningful,
all of the newness can end up being little more than bells and whistles.

Those were some of the concerns on the minds of ACC administrators when
they hired GSC to design five distinct buildings for the new campus. They
wanted the five buildings feel cohesive yet each have their own individual
flavor, and they wanted to create a sense of community and excitement about
coming together to learn. Technology was also a big consideration, as
designers focus on both the current and future impact of technology on
education.

“The furniture needed to fit the high-tech feel of the building, but also
needed to create welcoming, people-centered spaces that people want to
use—that was very important to the client,” said Julie Zitter, GSC’s
Director of Interiors. “We focused a lot on creating community areas—places
where students could gather, interact and study were integrated into the
design of the buildings, cultivating a stronger campus community.”

izzy’s solution

Collaboration is key for today’s higher education environments, both in and
out of the classroom, so tables were an important part of the equation.
Zitter specified Dewey tables for all five buildings.