January 29, 2010 (Raleigh, NC)—University Dining is progressing with plans to renovate the Atrium Food Court this year. Over the past several months, representatives from University Dining, Campus Enterprises, and other university staff have met with architects and planners from Moser, Mayer & Phoenix Architects and The Baker Group to carefully plan the project.
“We have two goals,” said Randy Lait, director of dining services. “We need to make the new Atrium a great destination for food once completed, and we need to serve our customers well during the construction.”
The new design will relieve congestion and overcrowding and introduce new food concepts to the Atrium. The serving area is completely redesigned to improve flow and circulation, with twice the space as the serving area today. In addition, seating from 370 to 435 seats by enclosing a section of the patio.
University Dining’s Chick-fil-A franchise will continue to be the centerpiece of the Atrium, complemented by several new “micro-restaurants” in the serving area, including a new Asian/sushi concept, pasta/pizza concept, custom salad station, and custom wrap station. In addition, University Dining will debut its new Wolfpack-to-Go section with fresh-made items to suit those who want to grab something quick and keep moving when a tight class schedule dictates.
“This is going to be a really attractive space that will really get to the heart of what students desire. Not only will it function well and have great food, but it’s going to look great, too. Meal times are some of the few times students can relax during the day. We want this to be a place where they can enjoy that time,” explained Lait.
To meet these expectations, the planning team has worked to develop a construction plan that has the Atrium food venues ready for service at the earliest possible time, and also minimizes disruptions to service while construction takes place.
“Though the original hope was to be able to renovate the space over one summer, we quickly found that the scope of the project would not allow that, said Lait.
“For example, to accommodate the renovations to the serving area and support the new food venues, we must construct a new exhaust system through the West Wing of the Library, install a new sprinkler system throughout the space, build new restrooms, replace a new main electrical switch gear in the basement of the Atrium, and design and build a new heating and air system with a new mechanical room to service the space. These needed improvements extended the construction period far past what could be accomplished in one summer of downtime.”
A construction management firm was retained to assist in developing the fastest schedule possible. The construction schedule calls for doing work in phases. Work began over break in December to remove asbestos and begin construction of the mechanical room in the basement to save time in the construction schedule.
The rest of the project will be completed as follows:
May 2010: Atrium closes for the summer to create a temporary serving area in the current seating area. The current serving area will be sealed off as renovations begin.
Fall Semester 2010: An interim food court consisting of Chick-fil-A, wraps, and subs will open in the current seating area. A temporary facility in the brickyard will provide seating during the construction. Construction of the new food venues is complete late December.
Spring Semester 2011: New serving area opens. Interim serving area is closed and transformed into new seating area. New restrooms are built. The temporary facility will continue to serve as the seating area.
Summer 2011: Atrium is closed to complete renovations to the kitchen area and HVAC. Temporary seating area is removed from the Brickyard.
Fall Semester 2011: Finished Atrium opens.
“I recognize that this schedule is not what students expected,” said Lait, “but this is what we need to do to meet current building codes and to have a facility that will meet the long-term needs of students, faculty and staff.
“As with any construction project, unforeseen circumstances may still affect the schedule,” he continued.
“ I have been very pleased with the efforts of the architects, food service consultants, and campus design team to establish a realistic, but accelerated schedule for the project and keep it moving forward quickly. With the careful thought and planning that has gone into this project, I feel strongly that our customers will be well served by the project.”
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