San José, CA (April 15, 2026) – The design-build team of international architecture firm Steinberg Hart and general contractor FLINT today celebrate the official opening of San José City College’s (SJCC) new Career Education Complex. The project represents a significant institutional investment in trade education, placing career-focused programs at the physical and symbolic center of the SJCC campus within a facility designed to reflect the sophistication and rigor of the work being taught. The complex brings together a new 90,000-square-foot facility and a 30,000-square foot renovated existing structure, organized around a landscaped courtyard and industrial teaching yard where students in building trades can work at full scale. 

Emerging from SJCC’s mission to strengthen its role as a workforce development engine for Silicon Valley, the project consolidates previously scattered health sciences, business, and computer information systems, skilled trades labs, and campus IT within a single interconnected site. 

With its sculptural form and sweeping lines, the new building marks a deliberate departure from the utilitarian boxes that typically house trade programs—giving vocational education the architectural presence and purpose-built infrastructure it has historically lacked. 

The design translates this institutional commitment into built form through the concept of a “cloud.” The building is lifted above the landscape, freeing the ground plane for shaded gathering areas, outdoor instruction, and pedestrian circulation. In a region defined by technology, the cloud carries a second meaning: shared infrastructure that connects distributed users and resources. The building embodies both meanings, its floating form linking programs and people across four levels while creating a dynamic space for students to gather, connect, and learn from each other. 

The four-story facility is anchored by a central atrium that rises the full height of the building, culminating in a grand oculus calibrated to fill all four levels with modulated natural light. Tiered seating below functions as informal gathering space, lecture venue, and vertical connector. Outdoor terraces wrap the upper floors, and planted gardens inside introduce greenery within. The result is a daylight-rich building where movement is visible and the boundary between indoor and outdoor space is deliberately blurred. A dual-sided lobby welcomes students and visitors from the south while simultaneously addressing the campus’s main pedestrian mall to the north to create a free-flowing campus gateway that invites the campus community from multiple directions. The complex provides versatile spaces for keynotes, trade shows, and seminars, serving as a community hub that elevates SJCC’s role in the regional economy and workforce development.

Programs are distributed vertically by discipline: tech-equipped labs for health sciences and business information systems occupy upper floors alongside faculty offices and student support spaces, while a lecture hall and café activate the ground level, opening onto the shared courtyard, which serves as shared connective tissue to link new construction and renovation into a single working campus.

A total of 15 different departments will be housed in the Career Education Complex, among them programs for computer science, medical assisting, electrical engineering, air conditioning and refrigeration technology, facilities maintenance, and Emergency Medical Services. The abundant outdoor gathering spaces, along with new north-south pedestrian paths cutting through the site, improve connectivity to the broader campus, emphasizing how the lessons learned here are meant to be shared beyond the classroom.

The façade adapts to its orientation, extending and tapering into an organic shading system that mitigates solar heat gain on southern and western exposures, as the lifted building mass channels prevailing breezes through the shaded gathering areas below.

The Career Education Complex opens amid broader reconsideration of how institutions invest in career education training. Community colleges have long struggled to secure capital funding for trade programs, and the facilities that result often fail to match the rigor of the instruction they house. SJCC’s project offers an alternative model—one that treats career education as core institutional infrastructure rather than ancillary programming. 

The project has won an award from the Design Build Association of America, Western Pacific Region (the exact award will be announced at the organization’s conference in May 2026). In addition, the project has been awarded a Cal/VPP-C (California Voluntary Protection Program – Construction) by CalOSHA for the project’s safety culture and record during construction.

Quotes:

“Our goal was to design a space where people from all different backgrounds can come together and take part in the shared experience of life-long learning,” said Katia McClain, Partner at Steinberg Hart. “The complex represents a new model for education—strengthening the region and State’s focus on workforce development and technical training, while giving students the tools, exposure, and confidence to translate learning into meaningful careers.”

“Building a four-story structure in the middle of an active campus was a challenge. We were fortunate to work with our partner architect, Steinberg Hart, and so many great Bay Area subcontractors and suppliers who helped us safely and efficiently deliver the building on budget and on schedule. We are excited for the District and for the many students who will benefit from this building in the decades to come,” said John Stump, President at FLINT. 

“The Career Education Complex embodies SJCC’s commitment to empowering students with the skills and confidence to succeed in Silicon Valley’s rapidly evolving economy,” said Dr. Marilyn Flores, President of San José City College. “By bringing our career programs together in a space that celebrates innovation, collaboration, and hands-on learning, we’re not only investing in our students’ upward social and economic mobility—we’re investing in the future of our community.”

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About Steinberg Hart

For more than 70 years, Steinberg Hart has designed memorable spaces that enrich lives and strengthen communities, shaping the built environment with purpose and imagination. With offices across the country, including in California, New York City, Austin, Texas, and Shanghai, the firm’s commitment to design excellence is informed by a national depth of expertise, with an approach grounded in local context and human needs.

About FLINT

FLINT is a Master Builder delivering turnkey education projects for districts across California. With in-house capabilities spanning design, engineering, manufacturing, and construction, FLINT provides fast-track, creative solutions through a vertically integrated approach from concept to completion. FLINT is committed to building high-quality learning environments that support student success and strengthen the communities they serve.

About San José City College

Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, San José City College has served the community since its founding in 1921. For generations, families have trusted SJCC to deliver innovative career education programs, guaranteed college transfer pathways, and life-changing educational opportunities. SJCC is part of the San José–Evergreen Community College District.

Images here, credit Jason O’Rear.