Walls are going up, walls are coming down, and one by one Claremont McKenna is chipping away at its most ambitious and significant construction initiative since the period associated with the founding of the College.

Led by New York-based design team Rafael Viñoly Architects and recognizing a landmark gift of $75 million from The Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Foundation, the most imposing and transforming of these scheduled projects is the Kravis Center. This signature entrance to CMC will provide contemporary space for state-of-the-art classrooms, five of the College's 10 research institutes, faculty offices, and the Office of Admission and Financial Aid when it is completed in 2010.

Inspired by CMC's current palette and proportions, but without mimicking its structural predecessors, The Kravis Center incorporates sustainable design, with a projected LEED Silver designation or higher. A series of courtyard spaces and terraces on the north, east, and south sides of the building create a variety of outdoor spaces to welcome informal gatherings - a design concept that extends the idea of the outdoor living room, says architect Rafael Viñoly-Menendez. And with the notable integration of glass, the Center's design imbues a sense of transparency--a perspective from which life can be seen within the building, while those working inside feel connected back to the natural environment that surrounds them.

CMC’s newest student residence hall: Claremont Hall

This linkage among tradition, history, and the aspirational character of the College also holds true for other campus construction projects. This summer not only welcomed LEED-compliant rehabilitations and renovations for more than 148 students in the existing Auen and Fawcett residence halls, it also celebrated the birth of three-story Claremont Hall, a LEED Silver dormitory on the southwest end of campus that incorporates ample light, drought-tolerant landscaping, efficient plumbing fixtures and carpet with recycled content and low volatile organic compound paints.

More about the ways in which CMC is growing can be found within this site, including projects past and present as well as those, like the Kravis Center, anticipated within the coming months and years.