September 16, 2009, 01:51 PM ET

Flavors of California: New Buildings at Loyola Marymount U. and the U. of San Diego

The William H. Hannon Library has opened at Loyola Marymount U. (Loyola Marymount U. photo)

New buildings at two California institutions—Loyola Marymount University and the University of San Diego—demonstrate that diversity is still the hallmark of campus architecture in the state.

Loyola Marymount's William H. Hannon Library, which was officially opened at the end of August, is a glassy, contemporary circle whose columns offer a faint echo of Classicism. The $63-million, 121,000-square-foot building was designed by Aecom, a firm that provides a variety of design, engineering, and management services.

The library has three above-ground floors and a two-story basement with high-density storage for 1.2 million volumes. The upper levels have—in addition to standard library seating for 580—study rooms, a reading room with a fireplace, a cafe, and multi-media facilities. The building was designed to achieve base-level LEED certification.

The University of San Diego, meanwhile, stuck to a more traditional Spanish Mediterranean style for its 55,000-square-foot Student Life Pavilion, but expects the building to achieve LEED gold certification. The $30.4-million building was designed by Kevin Hom + Andrew Goldman Architects of New York and Architects Mosher Drew Watson Ferguson of San Diego.

The pavilion's new dining area features "themed mini-restaurants" in which food will be prepared at cooking stations in view of students. A market, study and lounge spaces, a game room, and offices for student organizations fill out the building. Among the building's sustainable features are rooftop herb and vegetable gardens and an organic-waste-disposal system that relies on microorganisms to break down food scraps.