The 21,000-square-foot environmental science building, Building 12, is under construction at Skyline College and will benefit many science programs on campus as well as the larger community.

However, with construction comes parking hassles. No one can ignore the parking struggles that the construction of Building 12 has created these first few weeks of the semester, but it is all for a good cause.

“I wanted the environmental program to have equipment for their classes and support the teachers for their environmental courses,” said Skyline College President Dr. Regina Stanback Stroud.

Building 12 intends to provide more resources for the environmental science program so students can have a better learning experience and be successful in their academic careers at Skyline.

“This new building is really going to provide resources for more students and provide more opportunities,” said Raymond Hernandez, dean of science, math and technology at Skyline College.

The new building will be located behind Building 8, right on the vista point location at Skyline College with a view of the coastline. The SMCCCD Projects page website lists amenities that Building 12 will have: “two 56-seat classroom/laboratories, two 119-seat tiered lecture halls, academic offices, a catering kitchen, lobby and gallery/event space, and support spaces.”

The architect firm responsible for the new building is DES Architects, whose service includes interior design, landscape architecture, and structural engineering. The contractors on this project are XL Construction.

According to the Skyline College website, “the lecture halls will be able to host private seminars when not scheduled for academic use, classrooms will double as event spaces, and the gallery with its expansive views of the sea and coastline will support community and enterprise functions as well as student art displays.”

This building is not just more rooms and space for the campus and program but it will bring new ways of learning and teaching for the staff and students. The students will have the chance to use the environment itself for learning purposes during their classes.

They will have the opportunity to go outside and gain hands-on learning experience to help them better understand the context of their classes beyond classrooms and lecture halls.

This building is mainly going to support the environmental science and anthropology programs but the biology, chemistry and geology classes and their respective programs will also be benefited by this new building and its new classrooms and laboratories.

Hernandez said that this building comes with “two laboratory classrooms for experiments and outdoor classrooms with space designed with biological and geological natural resources.”

Having outside resources allows the students and teachers to make use of their entire classroom time for their own benefit.

“Well, the location of it is great, but I’m worried it’ll take away the view. The building itself I think is fantastic, I support what the environmental program has to offer,” Skyline student Daniel Mora said.

Building 12 will not block the view that the location has of the coastline, allowing students and staff to visit the building to look at the view themselves.

“I think it’s great and exciting. It will be both resourceful and helpful for all those involved in the environmental program,” said Alexis Guillermo, another Skyline student.

The environmental building will be providing these resources and support for the school with a projected opening of September 2019.