The building's forms are derived from the surrounding campus architecture with its clean rectangular forms and horizontal lines, but incorporate ribbons of windows to reveal the learning within. Gray concrete block, the predominant material for the rest of the campus, is used as a complement to the warmer brick colors, instilling a collegiate image. The three-story glass entrances with their aluminum entrance canopies invite student entry. Metal panels enhance the contemporary image indicative of the departments housed inside. The three-story atrium with its central stair invites further exploration upon entering the building.The atrium space acts as the building's circulation and interactive "mixing box" that all occupants must pass through when entering the building. It links an office tower on the west to the classroom/lab wing on the east. Like the people within, various materials interact and complement each other in the atrium, including maple wall panels, perforated aluminum railing and wall panels, precast concrete, and a spiraling terrazzo floor. Departments are organized vertically in the building: math on the first floor, life sciences on the second floor, and physical sciences on the third. Offices for all teaching faculty are on the same floor as their labs. Interactive conversation and break-out space is incorporated into each level of the office wing, highlighted with skylights and light wells on the second and third floors.LEED 2.1 design principles were incorporated throughout the building, a first for the Community Colleges of Spokane. The building's taller three-story height is the first on campus, conserving open green space with its small footprint. The compact mass creates an energy-efficient envelope. Building orientation maximizes potential daylighting. The strategic positioning of windows provides natural light and views throughout, with horizontal overhangs, sun shades and vertical pilasters limiting direct sunlight and glare within the learning environment. All site storm water is directed to bio-swales on site where it replenishes the aquifer below. Native planting materials and bark mulch with columnar basalt rock provide interest at the exterior plaza and entrance, while significantly reducing the amount of lawn irrigation and maintenance required relative to the rest of the campus.