Minneapolis Community and Technical College (MCTC)

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Minneapolis Community and Technical College (MCTC)

Firm

Architectural Alliance International

The downtown area of Minneapolis is one full of cultural diversity and educational history. The campus of Minneapolis Community and Technical College (MCTC) which is located in the middle of downtown is a prominent part of the diverse area. MCTC is the result of the merger of two institutions: a technical college with a long history of vocational education dating back to 1914 and an open-enrollment community college
established in 1965. Currently, the spacious campus covers 21.6 acres of land in the heart of downtown Minneapolis. This public two-year college enrolls over 13,000 students annually and is an active partner in initiatives designed to strengthen the social, economic and cultural vitality of the Twin Cities metropolitan area.

The campus expansion plan included the use of existing buildings in the downtown
area. Many of these buildings were dated and did not reflect the forward thinking nature or focus of the MCTC campus. MCTC wanted to revitalize these existing buildings, which were brick and CMU construction with no insulation and very limited natural lighting. The architects from Architectural Alliance were contacted to develop a plan to reclad this
building using this directive. Architectural Alliance set many goals in order to realize MCTC's modern approach to the building
aesthetic. The challenge with the existing building was its limited natural light, lack of exterior support structure and energy saving control layers. In addition to the engineering issues, there was the challenge of keeping a consistent look with the surrounding area while still bringing an innovative design solution to the outside of the building.