Oxnard, California

Ventura County Community College District
400 seat auditorium | 100 seat theater | 26,500 sf

The Oxnard College Performing Arts Classroom & Auditorium complex is the new home for the performing arts program and Oxnard College Television. This new multi-use complex is the college’s largest capacity lecture hall and auditorium space and also serves as a major campus design statement and community icon due to its prominent location.

The team held a series of workshops and design charettes, soliciting input from campus users and specialty consultants. Both the 400-seat auditorium and 100-seat “black-box” theater accommodate a wide spectrum of uses. Additional classrooms and support spaces are designed to consolidate various performing arts programs that were previously scattered at various locations across campus.

The design of the complex complements and enhances the interior campus green spaces, while remaining sensitive to the other existing and newly planned buildings. The thoughtfully-designed outdoor plaza and its relationship with adjacent and future buildings serves to create a distinguishable centralized “Courtyard for the Arts.” The rotated forms, differing heights and butterfly roofs create a powerful image facing the street.

Designed by MVEI, a previously affiliated entity.