Aviation Education Facility

C&S designed a new 33,000-square-foot building to house an aviation education program for Dutchess Community College located at Hudson Valley Regional Airport.

The building features administrative of­fices, classrooms, testing room, conference room, break room, educational hangar, and commercial repair hangar.

The building is a one-story L-shaped, gable and flat roof structure with a foot­print of 8,000 square feet attached to a 25,000-square-foot mono-slope roof han­gar. A projecting canopy and high vestibule area are surrounded by glazing that opens directly into reception and waiting areas. Adjacent to these spaces is an administra­tive office and conference room for build­ing occupants and visitors.

Near the main entrance are offices and a computer aided testing service (CATS) area. The CATS can be easily accessed from the entry, supervised by administra­tion, and can be isolated from noises of surrounding spaces. High bay windows provide natural light while maintaining privacy. Double-loaded corridors through­out ensure that all occupied spaces.

Four adjacent classrooms have direct access to the hangar. The classroom areas have clerestory windows for indirect lighting. The building also includes a simulator room, library, break room, and combi­nation toilet/locker rooms. Within the break area is a built-in high-top work area adjacent to a large full-height storefront that will provide visibility to a proposed helipad. This feature is also included in the conference room.

Interiors consist of high open areas at larg­er spaces with exposed painted structure and curved suspended acoustical clouds. Offices and other smaller areas have lower suspended acoustical ceilings.