August 2003

Ran: School Construction News-Design/Construction-Higher Education - July/August 2003

Fresh Food from a New California Kitchen

SAN DIEGO - The new dining complex serving students living in recently completed residence halls and in existing dormitories at San Diego State University is a step up from the usual food court, consisting of six culinary stations, each with its own theme.

According to Bill Magnuson, principal at Mosher Drew Watson Ferguson, the dining complex was designed to operate on a marketplace concept, or "bon marche," in order to better compete with the area's commercial restaurants. Stations include an exhibition kitchen where food is prepared in woks, a granary offering fresh bread and muffins, a pizza kitchen, and a "Euro kitchen." Magnuson says the emphasis is on freshness, with food being brought out as students enter the complex.

High-end finishes including ceramic tile used throughout the dining complex and stations incorporating distinctive designs rendered with decorative woods and metals.

The kitchen is part of the 250,000-square-foot Cuicacalli Residential Suites, recently completed by Mosher Drew Watson Ferguson and the firm's design-build partner, Barnhart Inc. Students are housed in a combination of single and double rooms, with up to eight sharing living units with bathroom and dine-in kitchen facilities.

A pedestrian mall ties the two towers at Cuicacalli Suites with the existing dormitories. Still, the new 700-bed complex is secure, with only one student entrance with card-access. The complex also provides a coffee shop, convenience store, full-size pool, and beach volleyball courts.

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