Architecture Students Use Creativity to Breathe New Life Into Welcome Center
Prospective students visiting Cal Poly Pomona’s Welcome Center will soon see a transformed hub with a fresh interior design thanks to the imagination of three architecture students.
The project to redesign the Welcome Center, located in the main lobby of the Student Services Building, has been ongoing for several years, but it is reaching the final stage, with an expected fall semester completion.
One of the early design elements, a colorful window “Welcome Center” vinyl application, has already made an impression on the campus community.
Figen Costa, a third-year student on the project team, said she witnessed real-time reactions to the sign when she recently stopped by the center.
“I went to go visit and was taking pictures of it, and I got to see other people’s reactions to it,” Costa said. “It was to the point where I asked, ‘Hey, what do you think of it?’ One staffer said the window decal itself has brought so much life into the space.”
There’s more to come at the center, including a mural, wall signage and furniture. The students also plan to transform the under-utilized information desk in the lobby to introduce an interactive element for visitors to learn more about the university. An exterior canopy is also planned to facilitate future programs for the Welcome Center.
The current iteration of the project began in July 2024 under the supervision of architecture Lecturer Richard Molina, who reached out to the students, who had formerly been in one of his design studio classes.
“Other than just being a room where people sit and just watch presentations, there was nothing that was interactive,” Molina said. “Now, this project created an opportunity to say let’s focus on the Welcome Center room, but also the lobby space that is adjacent to it. We can expand the Welcome Center presence, especially in that building, which is a building everyone arrives at when they come to visit campus.”
The project is not only an opportunity for hands-on learning. It’s also a chance to create something on campus that will be here long after they graduate, said third-year student Gabby Perez.
“It’s exciting. It’s a great experience because we are still early, halfway through our academic career,” Perez said, “so being able to leave a mark on campus is really nice. It is something we get to come back to after we graduate and see and be proud of. It’s really a hands-on learning opportunity that we get to experience, something we are going to be doing later in our careers. This is the first trial, the first run of what we’re going to do.”
Fellow third-year student Sera Yun, who was born and raised in South Korea and has lived in Thailand, Vietnam and the United States, said that experiencing life in other countries has influenced her perspective when it comes to architecture and design, including the Welcome Center redesign.
“After living in such different environments, I learned that space itself can affect people in a big way,” Yun said. “You can build something and have a big impact on someone’s life.”
Molina lauded the students for their dedication and professionalism.
“Even as third-year students, they know how to conduct themselves professionally,” he said. “From schematic designs to construction and vendor bids, they really have been engaged in every aspect, and the work they are doing is fantastic.”
