Western Carolina University, Brown Dining Hall
Certified: LEED Gold by the U.S. Green Building Council
Awarded:
- AIA North Carolina, Design Merit Award, 2021
- AIA South Carolina, Design Award Citation, 2020
- North Carolina State Construction Office, Excellence in Project Implementation Award, 2019
- AIA Columbia, Merit Award for Adaptive Reuse/Renovation, 2018
- AIA Charlotte, New Construction Merit Award, 2018
Western Carolina University hired our firm to both renovate and expand the original Brown Building. The existing 1950s building was much loved on campus but had challenges that needed to be overcome with regard to visibility and appeal for students. The goal was to accentuate the best of the existing and find new opportunities within to make it a student life destination on campus. Within the design, there were four foodservice venue opportunities of which “The Lodge” is the primary dining venue. It is designed to be “all you can fit on a plate” and allows students who choose the server experience to actually dine with friends who chose another of the dining options. Starbucks and Steak-n-Shake were planned to run separately and share back of house space and dining space. The second level of Brown houses the offices for Campus Services, Residential Life, and Community Ethics. The first floor houses the convenience store, which captures students converging down the hill to classes throughout the day. As part of this project, we replaced one older boiler in the Steam Plant with three new, smaller boilers to better accommodate Brown Dining Hall.