University of California, Santa Barbara: Campus Buildings

Description

The University of California, Santa Barbara was founded on July 1, 1944 and located in Santa Barbara proper, where the University took over the facilities of Santa Barbara State College. It was not until 1954 that the University moved to a 406-acre tract of land about nine miles west of the city, where it stands today. A portion of the 406-acre site was a World War II Marine air base, the barracks and other structures and facilities were renovated and adapted for instructional and dormitory uses.

After the Regents acquired the land, two permanent buildings were subsequently constructed, the library and the science building, designed in 1952 by Chester Carjola and Windsor Soule, respectively. A year later in 1953, the architectural firm of Pereira and Luckman of Los Angeles (later to become Charles Luckman and Associates in 1958) as well as landscape architect Eric Armstrong were chosen to create a master plan for the University. The construction of Santa Rosa Hall marked the establishment of a new architectural style, which consisted of patterned cinnamon colored concrete block (colored by volcanic ash) and flat tile roofs, intended to be a blending of modern and Spanish aesthetics. It was followed by the Arts Complex, Residence Halls, Dining Commons, Music Building, and Library additions.

In 1968 the Faculty Club, which was designed by Moore and Turnbull, was completed. A year later in 1969, Storke Tower and Communications Plaza, designed by Clark and Morgan, were built. Over the history of the University there have been nine Campus and Master plans undertaken to guide its growth. Recent additions to the collection include computer-generated renderings of newly constructed buildings, preliminary renderings and correspondence pertaining to the design and construction of Henley Gate, and additional working drawings and master plans.

Creator

University of California, Santa Barbara

Source

University of California, Santa Barbara Campus Building records, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara.

Date

circa 1929-2017

Rights

Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Copyright restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. University of California Regents.

Collection Items

World War II Marine base and future site of the UC Santa Barbara campus: view of barracks

A view of the World War II barracks, as they existed when the University developed the Goleta mesa site. Barracks like these were turned into classrooms, laboratories, and offices. This photograph appears to have been taken in the current area of…

World War II Marine base and future site of UC Santa Barbara: aerial view of site and coastline

An aerial view of the Goleta mesa campus site, with Campus Point in the foreground and the Santa Barbara Airport in the distance. World War II era buildings can be seen both inside and outside of the line of eucalyptus trees used as a windbreak. This…

Future site of the UC Santa Barbara campus: view of future Los Caneros Road, with campus planners

A view of a roadway, with eucalyptus trees lining either side. Two men are standing next to a car, looking at plans for the university.

Lecture Hall -- Campbell Hall

A rendering of Campbell Hall, looking northeast towards the main entrance. East Hall (now Phelps Hall) is off to the right and behind. Campbell Hall was named in honor of John and Ina Therese Campbell, founders of the Santa Barbara Campus…

Married Student Housing -- West Campus Housing

A rendering of a design for Married Student Housing (now named West Campus Family Student Housing), at the corner of El Colegio Road and Storke Road. The 250 one- and two- bedroom apartments are grouped into 38 buildings, which are clustered around…

Library Unit 1

The original library building, built in 1952, was part of the original Soule and Murphy master plan for the UCSB campus. It was designed by Chester Carjola, a leading Santa Barbara architect who worked closely with Soule and Murphy on the campus…

Residence Hall #2 -- Anacapa Residence Hall

A rendering of a two story residence hall, with a one story connecting corridor in the distance. This is the second permanent residence hall built and housed up to 400 male students. It now holds over 600 co-ed students in four L-shaped 2-story…

Physical Education Building -- Robertson Gymnasium

A rendering of an aerial view of the Physical Education building. The gym was named after State Senator Alfred W. Robertson, who was instrumental in bringing the UC to Santa Barbara. Originally home to the basketball team, the arena was also a…

Marine Laboratory-- Marine Science Institute

The beach-side location allows for sea water to be pumped into the building for aquatic experiments, some of which is also distributed to other buildings on campus. Prior to construction of the building, it was noted in the specifications the…

Dining Commons -- Ortega Dining Commons

A rendering of the exterior of the dining hall highlights the patterned concrete block, the hipped roof, screen walls (to protect the students from the ocean wind), and dentil mouldings along the bottom of the concrete overhang. These pieces of the…

Speech and Dramatic Arts Building -- Theater and Dance Building/Snidecor Hall

A rendering of the building looking south through the plaza towards the lagoon. The building contained a 380 seat theater, speech therapy facilities, and regular classroom and office space. It was originally designed for the emerging fields of…

Classroom and Office Building #1 -- Girvetz Hall

A rendering of what is now Girvetz Hall, before the addition of South Hall to it's western side. The building was also known as South Hall, after North Hall was built in 1962. It was the first permanent home for the Social Science and Foreign…

Psychology Building

A rendering of the Psychology Building, looking towards the southeast, from the area at the south end of the Library. This was the first permanent home for the Psychology Department, and was designed as a research facility. The building was also a…

Residence Hall #4 -- San Miguel Hall

A view of the two eight-story tower residence hall complex. The hall was designed to hold 400 male students in double occupancy rooms, but is now co-ed and a mixture of double and triple occupancy rooms. The single level building connects the two…

Dining Commons #2 -- De La Guerra Dining Commons

A rendering of the exterior of the dining commons. The addition of a second dining commons helped to alleviate overcrowding at the Ortega dining facilities. An addition in 1963 gave the staff dining space, as well as additional kitchen space. In…

Dining Commons -- Ortega Dining Hall

A birds-eye view of the Dining Commons patio overlooking the lagoon. The first permanent dining hall replaced the use of the Marine Air Base mess hall. The original capacity was 800 students per meal, but was later increased to 1200 students per…

Music Building Unit #2

A rendering of the music building addition, on the south side of the original building. This addition includes the former Arts Library and the Lottie Lehman Concert Hall. The design blends the addition seamlessly with the original building: patterned…

Library Building Unit #3

Almost immediately after the first library building was built in 1952, plans for an addition were being drawn up. And within a year of completing Library II, planning began in 1962 for Library III, which was completed in 1967. The growth of the…

University Center

A rendering of the original University Center design. The UCen is situated with a view over the lagoon and towards the ocean, south of, and between the Music Building and the Arts Building. The UCen has had multiple additions and alterations, though…

Chemistry Building

A rendering of the Chemistry Building, taken from the southern edge of the East Lawn, looking north. This building echoes some of the extended architectural vocabulary of the late campus standard, with patterned concrete block, dentil mouldings under…

Engineering Building -- Harold Frank Hall

A rendering of the south side of the building, from the current location of the Bren School, looking north. This building housed the newly formed College of Engineering, which included electrical, mechanical, chemical, and computer engineering…

Residence Hall #5 -- San Nicholas Hall

A rendering of the view from the southeast, towards the northwest, with the lagoon off to the far left side. Designed by Charles Luckman, the building utilizes some of the design motifs of the earlier campus buildings, and combines some of the later…

University of California, Santa Barbara Aerial View-- looking southwest

An aerial view of the campus from the early 1950s, looking towards the ocean in a southwesterly direction. The first two University buildings constructed are seen in the middle-lower-right (the Carjola-designed library) and immediately to the left of…

University of California, Santa Barbara Aerial View-- looking northwest

An aerial view of the campus looking towards the northwest, with the foot hills in the distance at the top of the photograph. The residence halls Anacapa and Santa Cruz appear to be under construction in the front of the photograph, as well as the…

University of California, Santa Barbara Aerial View-- looking west

An aerial view of the campus from the early 1950s, the Carjola-designed library is in the center of the image. Numerous World War II era buildings are seen in the lower right corner of the photograph. This photograph also highlights the lack of…

World War II Marine base and future site of the UC Santa Barbara campus: view of buildings

A photograph of de-commissioned buildings on the former Marine base, possibly former officers' quarters.. Some of this type of building are still being used today for office space, including housing the ROTC and Military Science department. During…

World War II Marine base and future site of the UC Santa Barbara campus: view of gymnasium and pool

A photograph of the Marine base gymnasium building, with attached pool. This photograph also shows the lack of proper landscaping and grounds maintenance which plagued the early campus planners. Lack of topsoil (which the Marines had scraped off to…

University of California, Santa Barbara-- Campbell Hall

A view of Campbell Hall, looking towards the northwest, from the library. The photograph highlights the landscaping and outdoor patio space for studying. This view no longer exists, due to the building of Ellison Hall and the expansion of the…

University of California, Santa Barbara Aerial View-- Campbell Hall

An aerial view of the campus looking west towards Isla Vista. Campbell hall is in the center, with North Hall and Robertson Gymnasium in the distance. Cheadle Hall is under construction due west of Campbell Hall. Some of the WWII era buildings seen…

World War II Marine base and future site of the UC Santa Barbara campus: view of building 431

A photograph of the former Marine Base, looking southeast towards the ocean. The building in the foreground is possibly Building 431, which was torn down and eventually the 1977 addition to the library was built on this spot. Building 431 was a mess…

World War II Marine base and future site of the UC Santa Barbara campus: looking north towards the mountains

A photograph of the campus as it appeared after the Marines left, but before much construction had taken place. The Marine water tower is seen in the distance, and a car is parked on the road.

World War II Marine base and future site of the UC Santa Barbara campus: campus pool

A view of the campus pool as it appeared before the Marine base was given to the University of California. The pool was used by the Marines to practice water landings and emergency parachute procedures; the jumping platform in the center of the…

World War II Marine base and future site of the UC Santa Barbara campus: view of building 434

A photograph of building 434, the Associated Students Annex, directly across the Pardall bike path from Storke Tower. This building was the recreation building during the time of the Marine Base, it was later converted into a Student Union in the…

World War II Marine base and future site of the UC Santa Barbara campus: Goleta Slough

A view looking west from near the current site of the East Entrance to the campus. This area looks fairly similar today, despite plans in the past to turn the coastal wetland into a recreational lake with a harbor, and other plans to infill the area…

World War II Marine base and future site of the UC Santa Barbara campus: view of water tower

A view looking east towards the ocean, with the Marine base water tower off to the left. This site is currently the Materials Research Lab building.

Arts Building

A watercolor rendering of the Arts Building, from an aerial birds-eye perspective. This shows the Spanish Colonial Revival influence on the design, with a focus on the red tile roof, courtyards, and patio spaces. Additionally, wind screens made of…

Science Building -- Webb Hall

A watercolor rendering of the second building to be built on the Goleta campus. The Science Building was designed by Santa Barbara architects Windsor Soule and John Murphy, who were the supervising architects for the new campus until 1953. The 1.2…

Long Range Development Plan- 1963

This long range plan was produced by executive architect Charles Luckman Associates. It shows a very concentrated build-up of academic buildings and residence halls, as well as expansion along El Collegio Road. The extension of Highway 217 along the…

Long Range Development Plan- 1975

The long range plan from 1975 shows a much greater concern for the adjacent community of Isla Vista. A larger concentration of university buildings is shown in the 'loop' area, as well as trees and pedestrian-friendly boulevards. Unlike the 1963…

Santa Barbara State Teachers College -- Administration Building

A photograph of a drawing by Alfred Eichler of the Administration Building for the Santa Barbara State Teachers College, formerly the State Normal School. The rendering shows the proposed administration building which housed offices, classrooms, a…

Santa Barbara State Teachers College -- Ebbets Hall archway to loggia

A photograph of an arched entrance to the loggia at the western end of Ebbets hall. The photograph was taken soon after construction; un-graded dirt and construction debris can be seen at the base of the stairs.

Santa Barbara State Teachers College -- Ebbets Hall southeast corner

A photograph of the southeast side of the building.

Santa Barbara State Teachers College -- Ebbets Hall northeast entrance

A photograph of the entrance to Ebbets Hall on the northeast corner, facing Alvarado Place. The building was named after Miss Charlotte Ebbets, who was the department head of the Home Economics Department at the college. Ebbets Hall contained…

Santa Barbara State College -- Industrial Education Unit

This image is a photograph of a rendering of the Industrial Education Unit for the Leadbetter Mesa campus, designed by Alfred Eichler. It was the first building built on the site for the Santa Barbara State College expansion, and was used from the…

Campus Plan -- Pereira and Luckman

A photographic print of a birds eye view rendering of a version of the campus plan. The foreground shows the general outline of the residence halls, with the academic and administrative units towards the top of the image. Development on the lagoon…

Campus Landscape Plan -- Soule and Murphy

A rendering of the landscape plan for the campus. This plan orients south at the top of the plan, with the lagoon and ocean at the top and left of the image. Three quadrangles (south, east, and northwest) are shown originating from a central point.…

Long Range Plan-- 1990

This birds eye view of campus shows the build-out of the land in 1990. Many of the original WWII buildings still remain, and the vehicle flow around the perimeter of campus is greatly reduced from the earlier plans. The large expanse of surface…

Faculty Club

A birds eye rendering of the Faculty Club, with the Theater and Dance building in the background. The front of the building slopes downwards towards the edge of the lagoon. MLTW/Moore Turnbull Architects were the executive architects, and Charles…

Storke Tower-- Student Publications Building

This architectural drawing of the west and south exterior elevations of Storke Tower and parts of the lower plaza. Partially funded by Santa Barbara News Press founder Thomas M. Storke, this is the tallest structure on campus, at 175 feet tall, and…

Education and Social Sciences Building

The Education and Social Sciences buildings house the Gevirtz School of Graduate Education, offices for the College of Letters and Sciences, the Center for Film, Television, and New Media, and the Pollock Theater. This image is a design sketch of the…

Materials Research Lab (MRL)

The plot plan for the first floor of the Materials Research Lab building shows the intricacies of fitting new buildings into the campus. The original Engineering building is immediately to the south, with an access road, pedestrian and bike paths…

Institute of Theoretical Physics -- Kohn Building

This rendering of the east elevation of the Kavli Institute of Theoretical Physics shows the sloping tile roof, vine covered trellises, and stucco exterior mimics the Spanish Revival nature of Santa Barbara architecture.

Student Health Center floor plan

This is an early design of the interior floor plan for the Student Health Center. The building appears to have been designed as having facilities for 24/7 care, with individual rooms. Multiple versions of this floor plan exist as the needs of the…

Student Health Center elevations

This image shows the east elevation (facing El Colegio Road) and the west elevation (facing the bike path). Both entrances have changed significantly,

Storke Family Student Housing

Two years after Killingsworth completed the Student Health Center, his firm began work on a 300 unit apartment complex for married students near the corner of Los Carneros Road and Mesa Road, just north and west of the main campus. The red tile…

Santa Barbara College of the University of California-- Mesa Campus Master Plan

This master plan of the Leadbetter Mesa campus, assumed to be drawn by Soule & Murphy, shows a large number of buildings built on the mesa and surrounding areas. The Arts buildings were clustered towards the Cliff Drive side of campus, while the…

Faculty Club- early sketch

This is an early pen on heavy paper drawing of scheme for the Faculty Club. The roofline, massing, and collonades are all very different from the building that was eventually built.

Institute of Theoretical Physics-- Kohn Hall floor plan

This is an early floor plan of the original building for Kohn Hall, designed by Michael Graves.

The Kavli Institute of Theoretical Physics is a world-renown research facility where physicists meet to collaborate on cutting edge research and…

Humanities and Social Sciences Building

This blueprint is an early floor plan for the first floor of the building. The unique shape of the eastern wing makes this building immediately recognizable, and the varied heights of the different components of the building give a visual reference…

Residence Hall #6 -- San Rafael Hall

A photograph of a model of San Rafael Hall. The placement of San Rafael Hall on the western edge of the campus, adjacent to Isla Vista, shows the expansion of the on-campus housing beyond the original residence hall cluster. The Carrillo Dining…

Faculty Club addition

The 2016 renovation and addition to the 1968 Faculty Club was completed by Moore & Turnbull's successor firm, Moore Ruble Yudell. The addition included adding a wing of 30 guest rooms and updating the dining room and meeting room interiors.

Library Addition

This computer generated drawing of the connecting Paseo shows the options for different floor and wall finishes for the two story space. As one of the busiest areas on campus, with over one million people entering and exiting each year, the new lobby…

Biological Sciences II

This is a photograph of a model of the Biological Sciences II building, looking at the north-west corner of the building, with Parking Lot #1 on the left side of the image. The building houses numerous laboratories, offices, and other research…

South Hall

This photograph shows a model of South Hall, with Girvetz Hall in the foreground. Marsh, Smith & Powell designed Girvetz in 1955, shortly before Marshs' death. The firm changed its name to Powell, Morgridge, Richards, & Coughlin in the early 1960's…

Broida Hall

This photograph of a model of Broida Hall shows a view from the south, with Webb Hall and the Woodhouse Laboratory in the foreground. In addition to classroom and office space, Broida also has two lecture halls. As one of the later works of Charles…

University House

The on-campus home for the Chancellor and his/her family, the University House is located at the edge of the lagoon, close to the original residence halls. With an enclosed courtyard, wide roof overhangs, and a patio with a view of the lagoon, the…

Francisco Torres / Santa Catalina Residence Hall

This is a preliminary planting plan for the area surrounding the private residence hall, Francisco Torres. This residence hall, at the corner of Storke Road and El Colegio, was built and maintained by private owners. Though it was heavily marketed…

Bren School of Environmental Studies

The Bren School of Environmental Studies is one of the premier environmental science schools in the country, and the only graduate school of environmental management in the UC system. The building itself is also exceptional. The first dedicated…

San Joaquin Villages

This site plan shows the pedestrian circulation patterns within this section of San Joaquin. The mixed height of the buildings, break up the massing of the structures which hold faculty apartments, lounges, and study spaces. The plan emphasizes…

Long Range Development Plan- 1968

In this 1968 version of the long range development plan, the campus footprint expanded to include the Storke Campus area along El Colegio and Los Carneros Road, and the West Campus area around Coal Oil Point and the Devereux Slough.

Location Map of the New Santa Barbara Campus

This early map shows the existing county roads and the roads on the former Marine Air Base. Hand-drawn arrows indicate traffic flow from Goleta and Santa Barbara towards the new campus. This map shows many of the roads that are still in use today, as…