Building 12 - The Lookout at Vista Point
A stop on Skyline College Campus Walk, a free self-guided tour.
You're at the western edge of campus, a spot the college calls Vista Point, and Building 12, the Environmental Science Building, was designed around what's beyond it. On a clear day, look west: the ridge drops toward Pacifica and the Pacific Ocean.
The building opened on September 24, 2019, after about two years of construction. It holds two classroom labs and two tiered lecture halls, with offices and an outdoor learning area. The walls facing west were planned with as few columns and braces as possible, so that the high-ceilinged, glass-fronted gallery inside looks straight out over the ocean and the coastline. The gallery also hosts student art and can hold large events, and the campus map lists the Farallon Room here too.
The building was planned to high green standards, designed to beat California's energy code and be ready for zero net energy. Pause here and see whether the fog lets you see the water today.
Getting here: From Building 1, follow the path west past Building 8, home of the Business and Language Arts programs, to the glass building at the edge of the ridge.
Did you know?: More than 400 people came to the building's opening, which was run as a zero-waste event, with nothing sent to a landfill.
Photo op: Stand on the west side of the building and frame its glass front with the ocean view beyond, fog or no fog.
More on Wikipedia: Skyline College · Pacific Ocean · Pacifica, California
Stops on this tour
- Building 2 - Student Services Under One Roof
- Building 1 - Theater, Gallery and Studios
- Building 12 - The Lookout at Vista Point
- Building 7 - STEM Center and Fab Lab
- Building 6 and the Quad - Where Campus Gathers
- Building 5 - The Learning Commons
- Building 4 - Salon, Shop and Administration
- Gym and Fields - Home of the Trojans
- Sweeney Ridge Trailhead - From Campus to History