Vision 3 | URI Butterfield Named Award Winner

Butterfield Dining Hall / Frank Giuliani Photography

Kingston, RI – Vision 3 Architects was presented with the challenge of renovating the existing Butterfield Dining Hall to meet the changing needs of today’s students. The existing facility was in operation for over 60 years and was in dire need of an update.

Some of the challenges faced were the need to increase the overall seating count, provide more seating options, renovate the servery to accommodate additional food service options, fix student queuing problems, increase visibility to and from the dining hall, and explore sustainable options for the construction and operation of the renovation.

Frank Giuliani Photography

The Butterfield Dining Hall work included a complete gut and renovation of approximately
10,000sf of the existing dining room/servery spaces, a new 7,500sf dining room addition located adjacent to the existing dining areas on the ground level, and a new 2,000sf student lounge/exterior patio located on the upper level.

New dining area /Frank Giuliani Photography

The dining hall seating capacity was increased from approximately 380 to 560 seats. The old, long, eight-person tables were replaced with several different seating options; high table tops, large round tables, and various smaller tables, designed to encourage small-group gatherings. Students are presented with several seating types, with the option to experience the new space in several new and different ways.

The new servery features new and improved food service options including a large salad bar, cook-to-order omelet station, pizza/pasta station, homestyle/favorites station, and an international station that claims to serve over 700 burritos a day!

Another welcomed enhancement to the new addition was the relocation of the main queuing line from the exterior to the interior. The existing dining hall offered limited interior queuing space forcing the students to wait in line outside, often in difficult weather conditions. The new design provides over 100 feet of interior queuing space. The queuing space is also adjacent to a large glass interior wall, which allow students to see directly into the dining hall while they are waiting.

Patio / Frank Giuliani Photography

The state-of-the art facility and the new upper-level patio create a strong feeling of community and provides a place for students to gather and relax with friends.

This project is seeking LEED Silver certification and incorporated use of recycled materials, highly efficient equipment, water conserving fixtures, and several other sustainable features.

RI MONTHLY DESIGN AWARDS
CATEGORY | Architecture, Commercial/Corporate Renovation and New Addition

PROJECT | COMPLETION 2015 | COST $9 million
SIZE | 10,000sf dining/servery renovation, 7,500sf dining addition, 2,000sf lounge addition

TEAM
Vision 3 Architects | Architect
TRAC Builders, Inc.| General contractor

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