The Westside I (WS I) Learning Commons was designed as a pilot project to implement CNM's paradigm shift toward an interactive, social approach to education.

During programming, Multistudio collaborated with a group of younger CNM faculty to imagine alternative ways to integrate academic services and faculty interaction into students' busy daily routines. The two programmatic strategies that emerged out of this collaboration—the Learning Commons Loop and the Faculty Office Pod—put the student educational experience front and center.

The Learning Commons Loop serves as the central organizing element of the building, immersing students in the breadth of available academic resources by providing a primary circulation space that loops around the entire floor plate.

It offers spaces for tutoring, computer usage, social gathering, and study. The wide varieties of enclosed and open breakout spaces are located directly across from classrooms, fostering a symbiosis of teaching and discussion.

Several vital moments along the Loop, such as the central information desk, café, and art display cases, are distinguished through the combination of acrylic "CNM yellow" panels and Cali Bamboo Marbleized Fossilized Plywood, a rapidly renewable resource.

As visitors progress around the Loop, they are engaged by an ever-changing combination of learning spaces, enticing study lounges, and expansive views to the vast New Mexico landscape.

Faculty Pods distributed along the Learning Commons Loop and near class and study rooms encourage students and faculty to cross paths daily in an impromptu way. The building meets the 2030 Challenge for energy performance with an intensive daylighting strategy, self-shading envelope, and the installation of geothermal wells and solar panels.