EPCC Career and Technical Education Building Honored With AIA Design Award

Category:

Written By:

Parkhill Communications

Date:

February 6, 2026

Aerial view of El Paso Community College Rio Grande Campus.

The El Paso Community College (EPCC) Career and Technical Education Building was recently honored with a Citation Design Award at the 2026 AIA El Paso Chapter Architecture Gala. The project was one of only six recognized out of 20 entries.

The award-winning facility is a 7-story structure that blends a 400-space parking garage with over 65,000 square feet of state-of-the-art academic space. It serves as a new hub for EPCC’s health sciences programs and marks a major milestone in the transformation of the college’s only urban campus.

Located on a tight infill site that once held a 100-space parking lot, the building presented unique design challenges: a constrained footprint, an 11-foot grade change, and adjacency to a busy transit corridor. Through thoughtful design, the team overcame these challenges to create a facility that respects the campus’s historic character while advancing modern learning.

  • Exterior view of El Paso Community College Rio Grande Campus.
  • Exterior view of El Paso Community College Rio Grande Campus.
  • Interior view of a hallway at El Paso Community College Rio Grande Campus, showcasing blue and gray flooring and a glass door.
  • Interior view of a hallway at El Paso Community College Rio Grande Campus.
  • Interior view of El Paso Community College Rio Grande Campus.
  • Interior view of El Paso Community College Rio Grande Campus.
  • Interior view of a hallway at El Paso Community College Rio Grande Campus.
  • Interior view of El Paso Community College Rio Grande Campus.
  • Interior of a hospital room at El Paso Community College Rio Grande Campus, showcasing beds and medical equipment.
  • El Paso Architecture staff (photographed left to right) Julio Barrera Reyes, Hector Rodriguez, Michael Stills, Mary Stills, Karla Murillo-Chico, Hector De Santiago and Andre Lopez