schooL of BusIness, MILLs coLLege

red tILe roofs and 
stucco facades 
dominate the leafy
grounds of mills 
college, in oakland. 

But for the new 
home of its now-10-year-old mBa 
program, the women’s liberal arts college and 
coeducational graduate institution asked
architects Bohlin cywinski jackson (Bcj)
to depart from the campus’s characteristic 
Spanish revival style.
the firm responded with a decidedly modern building
made of crisp volumes clad in stone, zinc, and glass.
completed in the fall of 2009, the Graduate School 
of Business houses classrooms, faculty offices, and 
areas for collaboration and impromptu meetings. 
the largest of these interactive zones is the double-story 
lobby, which opens to a covered linear porch and a lawn 
defined by the building’s
l-shaped plan. these indoor and outdoor spaces function like
a campus “living room,” says Greg mottola, a Bcj principal 
a vegetated roof visible from the second floor is the most
readily identifiable green feature, but the leed Gold–certified
building deploys several other tightly coordinated sustainable
strategies, including daylighting, rainwater harvesting,
and natural ventilation. these systems help maintain a
comfortable learning environment and conserve resources
and money.

architectural record may 2011