Shelter is an vital human need that buildings provide. Modern buildings also feature plumbing and ventilation systems that serve the essential human needs for water and clean air. Then, there are special buildings that provide for yet another essential human need: food and nourishment. Buildings serving food and meals come in many shapes and sizes, from small residential kitchens to large restaurants and dining halls. The Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) training campus requires unique facilities for student meals. The SERE training program is physically demanding, and the students require more than double a typical caloric intake at each meal. Thus, kitchen preparation space, food storage, and the receiving area for deliveries require efficient spaces, circulation and adjacencies. The existing facility – the Ross Mission Essential Feeding Facility (MEFF) – lacks the space needed to meet the growing SERE student population and volume of meals served.
WJA Design Collaborative met with the user group and kitchen staff so our design team could better understand the overarching needs of the Ross MEFF. Based on those conversations, we completed preliminary and final conceptual designs that enlarged the dining area inside the existing building footprint and added new space for staff offices, building entries, and food storage.