The Saddleback College Advanced Technology and Education Park (ATEP) project is a 50,000 SF satellite instructional campus located within the Tustin Legacy development area in Orange County, California. The development encompasses two single-story specialized buildings designed to facilitate hands-on career technical education.
The campus comprises a 20,000 SF Culinary Arts building and a 30,000 SF Advanced Transportation and Automotive Technology building. The culinary wing features state-of-the-art commercial te6ching kitchens, a student-run public restaurant, a coffee bar, and an outdoor culinary herb garden. The automotive structure integrates a training facility equipped with 14 vehicle lifts, specialized radar calibration laboratories, instructional classrooms, and a 15,000 SF enclosed exterior service yard for instructional vehicles and materials.
The structural and building systems of the Saddleback College ATEP feature a mass timber hybrid design. The signature architectural element of the campus is a sweeping, “S”-shaped roof structure designed by Gensler to mirror neighboring campus facilities. To achieve this geometry, the team utilized long-span, double-curved Alaskan Yellow Cedar (AYC) glulam (glued-laminated) beams.
