Editor's note: This article is part of The Schechter Report and NRN’s content partnership, and the views do not necessarily reflect those of Nation’s Restaurant News.
In the fall of 2010, Ft. Lewis College opened its new main foodservice facility, the $28 million San Juan dining hall to replace an outdated and run-down prior dining operation. San Juan was designed by Ricca Newmark Design, Denver, CO, whose project team included Al Moller, principal, Lona Homersham, project director; and Michelle Maestas, senior designer.
According to Moller, the original plan was to tear down the existing residential dining building and replace it with an entirely new structure. College administrators soon discovered, however, that the cost of a completely new building would exceed their budget, so the plan was modified to include a thorough renovation of the existing facility and the design of a new, multi-level dining space. The RND team worked with personnel from project architect Perry Dean Rogers, Boston, as well as Ft. Lewis’ Brad Hiti, director of Auxillary Services; Wayne Kjonaas, director of Physical Plant Services; and Chris Wilke, general manager of Campus Dining.
This team began planning the San Juan dining facility in December 2007, with design work commencing during the summer of 2008. “Before the renovation, dining options at Ft. Lewis included a dining area for residents and a retail space for commuters,” Moller explained. “Our approach was to combine these facilities into a single operation and make Monday through Friday breakfast and dinner, along with Saturday and Sunday brunch and dinner, all-you-care-to-eat, while Monday through Friday lunch is served a la carte.”
To incorporate these features, Moller, Homersham and Maestas developed a three-level layout. On the ground floor, they located receiving, storage and bakery spaces. The second floor of San Juan contains a marketplace-style servery, a coffee bar and the main seating area, along with a ware washing space, while the second floor features a grill station and additional seating.
“Because the college’s population had outgrown the capacity of the old dining facility, our goals included designing a roomy, modern interior with features, such as our serving-counter cladding, matching the building’s architectural details,” Maestas related.
