All The Fixings

Rhode Island Campus Unveils New Dining Options

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Johnson & Wales University unveiled new dining options this year in an effort to keep students and faculty on campus during meal breaks and create a more engaging environment.

The improvements were designed at the nonprofit, private university by Vision 3 Architects, of Providence, and included a complete remodeling of an existing deli and a basement dining area on campus.

The renovation split the deli in Johnson Hall and created a self-branded burger eatery and a Starbucks franchise.

“They had a good idea about what they wanted to serve for food and the concept that they wanted to achieve,” says Stephen Amoroso, project anager at Vision 3.

City Burger was designed to provide a fast, casual atmosphere that mimics a tavern setting. It features decorative lighting, warm wood tones, flat-panel TVs and a double-sided fieldstone fireplace. An open kitchen was created to provide a full view for diners.

“They wanted a place where the kids could come and hang out and eat because on that side of the campus there wasn’t a student center,” Amoroso says. “They wanted a nice, comfortable and relaxing space.”

Wireless Internet is available at the facility to provide a comfortable and informal study environment for students.

City Burger was designed to provide a tavern-like setting for students and faculty.

Vision 3 also worked with Johnson & Wales to convert two basement dining halls in the John Hazen White Center into a unified dining facility. The result is a 6,000-square-foot space that offers three dining areas.

The area is designed to look like an urban New England streetscape that links dining areas with decorative signs, custom millwork and a variety of seating options. A two-story atrium serves as a pseudo-outdoor area.

“The whole idea was the two-story atrium was outside and we treated the face of all the interior spaces as if they were storefronts so that you enter at different places,” Amoroso says.

Designers worked to shed the basement area’s institutional environment with warm colors, materials and lighting to help brighten and enhance the space.

“Because it was a basement, there was a tremendous amount of building utility piping that we had to deal with,” Amoroso says. “Lighting was a challenge.

Utility pipes were painted to match the ceiling, and warm colors and lighting were used to create a more comfortable environment in the basement Marketplace area.

Pipes and the ceiling were painted the same color to help them blend, and indirect and direct lighting schemes were applied to create a homier feel, Amoroso says.

“It was very institutional before with stripped fluorescent light fixtures and tables of twelve,” he says.

The space is now configured with individual eating options and tables with four- or six-seat configurations.

School officials also worked to eliminate an institutional feel with the food served at the new facilities. A focus was put on high-quality foods that are produced locally, according to officials.

Large batch cooking was eliminated and all food is produced in small batches or made to order.

The food at City Burger is made from natural ingredients that have never been frozen, according to officials. All beef offered at the facility is traceable to the farm where it originated, and chicken, vegetables and shrimp are offered as beef alternatives.