Groundbreaking will take place at North Seattle Community College tomorrow for a new Center for Employment and Education.
The following information and the above image of the future center were provided by North Seattle Community College:
The new Center for Employment and Education at North Seattle Community College (NSCC) is designed to set a new standard in efficiency and service. It will be housed in a new building on campus and will serve the unemployed through five different community colleges, including North Seattle, Edmonds, Shoreline, Lake Washington Technical, and Seattle Central. Area employers will also be on site and participating in the project.
Locating the new center at North Seattle Community College was an easy choice because community colleges are recognized locally and nationally as the single most important resource for educating and training the un- and under-employed. NSCC President Ronald LaFayette notes that “the federal stimulus money will be gone by early 2011, when the center will open. And since unemployment tends to lag three years behind economic recovery, we will open while people still need additional help.”
Designed by Schacht Aslani Architects, the 46,000 square foot facility not only brings the four agencies together, but also fosters collaboration between them through the absence of departmental boundaries. “The design facilitates the new service model of teamwork between agencies,” said Cima Malek-Aslani, Principal, Schacht Aslani Architects. “The open office layout encourages staff collaboration through access to shared information, while the enclosed meeting and conference rooms allow for confidentiality.”
The building features multiple sustainable strategies including a 7,000 square foot green roof, maximum daylighting, energy savings and water use reduction. It is targeting Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification, with an anticipated 26% energy savings and 46% reduction in water use.
The all-in-one location will streamline services related to employment services, basic skills education, career training, unemployment insurance, food stamps, child support, transportation services, welfare, health care and other state aid. Metro has even taken steps to re-route a bus line so that there is a direct link to regional transit centers. This fundamental change in how services are provided addresses a long standing problem in a new and creative way.
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