In the middle of the farming community around Merced, Calif., the University of California, Merced has been blooming, and at its center is the Pavilion, a dining hall that serves as the campus hub in the way that grange halls used to serve agricultural communities through a shared social, economic and political vision. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), San Francisco, and built by WEBCOR Builders, San Francisco, the Pavilion features a metal-clad shed roof that captures the ethos of the structures found in the surrounding area but with a contemporary thrust.
A dining hall serves as a vital hub in the center of a modern campus that captures the character of the surrounding farm community
The Central Valley of California is one of the most productive agricultural areas in the world. Michael Duncan, FAIA, is design partner at SOM and was lead designer on the Pavilion. He was also heavily involved in the original master plan for UC Merced. “We took our cues directly from some of the larger shade structures that are some of the most noticeable architecture as you drive through this part of the world,” he says. “Their straightforwardness, their exposed structure presents a kind of honesty of material. There’s not a lot of hidden there. And that became a strategy for the simplicity of the building.”
Photos: Bruce Damonte Photography
A Strong Simplicity
That simplicity and ethos fit into the original intent for UC Merced, which was established in 2005. “We always wanted this campus to have a strong connection to the industrial, agricultural character of the Central Valley,” Duncan says. “Even in the very first phase, we were looking at materials like poured-in-place concrete and corrugated metal siding and other elements that you see in more of the agricultural buildings, so that it had a strong sense of connection to its place.”
The shed roof, the corrugated metal roofing and siding, and the simple form all produce a building that extols the rich virtues of the area. “It’s got a big strong geometric,” says Duncan, “that we hope is pretty identifiable with this region, but it’s not literally a barn and it’s not literally trying to be an agricultural building. It just takes its cues from it. It’s very straightforward.”
In addition to the form of the building, the materials also capture the agricultural ethos. The corrugated metal and glass relate to the framing seamlessly and give the structure a lightness that is accentuated by its placement on a concrete plinth. The tapered beams on the overhang emphasize the lightness. “I think it has a structural clarity, which is always a joy to stand in, particularly when the structural clarity becomes the architecture itself. That makes for a very understandable, hopefully, rich building,” says Duncan.
The Lightness of Being
The perforated panels and simple structure give the building a lightness. But it is also its siting that supports that feeling. Raised on a concrete plinth, the Pavilion overlooks a small lake. “We were very conscious of trying to make it light,” says Duncan, “and part of that contrast of lightness was that it hovered above the earth, or sat up on, this earth and concrete plinth. We also liked the view, the idea that when you sat on that terrace you looked down and saw the water, you looked out over the Valley and out through the length of the campus.”
The corrugated, perforated panels contribute to the lightness of the structure. When the sun is straight in front of it, it consistently reads as a surface, but when the light gets behind the perforation, it has a kind of glowing lantern effect.
The Central Hub
Like a Grange Hall, the Pavilion is the central hub of all activity on the campus. All the vehicular traffic has been pushed to the outer edge of the campus so that is very pedestrian friendly, and the dining hall, raised on its perch, sits among the residence halls, science buildings and other structures. It connects to the two main spines of the campus, and students walking almost anywhere need to pass through the Pavilion. Even the service entrance has been hidden, with delivery trucks using an underground tunnel to make deliveries.
One end has a deep porch and a coffee bar that facilitates the pass-through traffic, providing quick service for students between classes. But the building also holds seating for 600 inside and 100 on the terrace. And it has an internal flexibility that allows the space to be used for large gatherings.
“The building links across campus,” says Duncan. “This way to housing, the gym. The library is up the hill. It relates to the lake and gives you a privileged position slightly up from that.”