Education

PCA Designs Wheaton College Dining Hall Reno

14036 - PER INT - Chase Dining - Marketing Renderings - View 02

Chase dining hall rendering

 Caulfield GC

Norton, MA – Construction is under way on the gut renovation of Wheaton College’s Chase Dining Hall.

Prellwitz Chilinski Associates (PCA), working closely with Wheaton and Aramark, is reviving Chase Hall to create a showplace for dining and events on campus.

This renovation will redefine how food is served, with an open concept kitchen that unifies the currently separated dining areas in an updated midcentury modern aesthetic. The design uses varied ceiling heights, color accents, and floor patterns to define station locations and circulation throughout the space.

The main dining hall on the Wheaton campus,, Chase was built in 1957 and expanded in 1963 to create two separate dining rooms, (square and round), with a central kitchen. The two dining areas were completely cut off visually from each other, each with their own servery area.

This unwelcoming, inefficient layout required a full gut renovation to unify the spaces and create a dining destination.

A new continuous servery line connects the previously disconnected dining spaces and showcases a broad variety of cooking stations. With a central salad bar featuring glass front coolers, fresh ingredients are highlighted as you enter.

The cooking process is completely visible to students as they approach each station. With a compact open kitchen design, students see a made-for-them approach to dining.

The dining areas offer a range of seating options for students to “perch, dine, or linger.” Farm tables will accommodate large groups, and flexible furnishings can accommodate after-hours entry to one half of the facility for events and a future late night attraction.

F.L. Caulfield is the general contractor.