The new Institute for the Culinary Arts at Metropolitan Community College is educating a record-breaking number of students in a new food-inspired environment. The facility is six times larger than the school's previous home and has led to an enrollment increase of more than 30 percent.
In keeping with the desire to create a new community dining destination, the dynamic transparent south façade of the new building greets visitors entering the campus from the primary thoroughfare. As they proceed north along the facility's west elevation, the road turns east toward the main entrance. Thus, visitors experience all sides of the two-story building upon arrival.
The design is a modern interpretation of the college's existing architectural vernacular and a precursor to redevelopment in the surrounding neighborhood. The brick matches the brick of the general row housing on campus. Exterior cladding includes glass and copper, materials often used in culinary arts. Pre-patinated copper panel encases the building's second level conference space. Copper is used for flashing, gutters and downspouts on numerous buildings on campus. Entrance areas are designated with low-iron transparent glass panels.
Glass covers the remainder of the building. Kitchens are transparent to both interior and exterior, allowing visitors to peer inside and to provide visual relief to students. The bistro on the northeast corner has glass on the east and north sides with end grain wood flooring. The first floor of the main lobby is clad in zinc and wood-look laminate, and features modern seating, a bakery and coffee shop, and a dramatic glass tread staircase that leads visitors to the second level. The second level hallway incorporates the pre-patinated copper panel featured on the exterior of the building and leads visitors to the elegant, multipurpose conference room.
A 15,000-gallon collection tank stores rainwater from the building for reuse for irrigation. The facility is LEED certified.
Photo courtesy of HDR Architecture Inc.; © Tom Kessler www.tomkesslerphotography.com