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switch to text-only version  Proposed Program Description

  Grinnell College

The list of program items mentioned below were developed by Shepley, Bullfinch, Architects during a year long planning process. Architect Tom Kearns, from Shepley, Bullfinch met extensively with the Campus Center Committee and various constituencies on campus to develop this program plan.

The College recently hired Cesar Pelli Architects to move the campus center planning process to the design phase. Architects from Cesar Pelli will be on campus in early April to review briefly the enclosed program plan with members of the Campus Center Committee and groups from the campus prior to the design phase of the process.

Restaurant

The restaurant area should be designed to replace the functions carried on now within the grill located in the Forum. Under consideration now is the addition of enough space, programming, and minimal staffing to serve the function of the Northern and Southern Expresses. (These are late night options for students selling convenience food items). The restaurant would provide fast food and beverage service to all members of the campus faculty, staff, and students-- as well as the town community. Consequently, design should incorporate the possible different needs of the various communities.

Post Office

The post office should be designed to allow easy access to mail boxes and pick up and delivery of larger items. The post office will need to be located against an exterior wall to allow delivery trucks easy access. The number of actual mailboxes should be greater than current needs. Tables and recycle bins should be located throughout the post office. Copy Connection will no longer be in the campus center program since they have purchased office space downtown.

Lounges/Meeting Rooms

Lounges in the new campus center will be warm and inviting. The program calls for a medium size fireplace lounge, study lounges, and a TV lounge. The large multipurpose room should have the ambiance of south lounge in the Forum and be flexible to meet a wide range of needs. The seminar rooms could be used for classes, student groups, meetings for administrative staff, and conferences. Study alcoves should be located throughout the building for students. The game room will include pool tables and video games.

Entry/Information area

The entry to the campus center should include a lobby with an information desk, ATM machine, a counter with a computer where students can access their email, and telephones for making calls on and off campus. The entry/information area should be separate from the dining hall and will introduce members of the campus and visitors to the elements of the building. A Pioneer Card Station should be located near the entrance for easy access and be accessible 24 hours per day.

Student Government Association & Student Organizations

Student government should include a grouping of offices for student government leaders and outer-office space that can be used as a resource area. Offices should be provided for the president, vice president, treasurer, all-campus events coordinator, student services coordinator, administrative coordinator, student group/publicity coordinator, and concerts and films chairs. This area should be located within close proximity to the offices that will house student organizations. Student organizations need sufficient space to meet and it is hoped that a concept of "pods" might be utilized. One campus we viewed had large assignable storage lockers for records and materials of student organizations. Then along a central corridor, various meeting rooms were arrayed to permit organizations to schedule meetings in suitable spaces. That way no organization had designated and dedicated space that could not be used by others. A special note: please see the slightly differing rationale for multicultural space later. The assignable storage lockers would be privately keyed so that only that organization (and the student affairs designated staff) could access the storage facility. Inherent in the design would be bulletin boards, a storage area for supplies, e.g., markers, flip charts, posters, paints for posters, etc. It might be that such a storage facility could be adjacent to the space designated and dedicated for student publications as they might be utilizing similar materials. The areas should be accessible to students 24 hours per day.

Student Publications and Radio

The College supports a student newspaper and various other publications of a semi- regular basis as well as publications that might be created only once. Such space needs to support layout design, writing space, and general meeting space for newspaper staff. It should include telephone, computer stations, and lockable, secure storage areas. A separate space needs to support the campus radio station and that would include broadcast space, storage space for compact discs as well as the older form of tapes and LP's. There should be adequate space for storage of records and computer stations.

Multicultural Space

Multicultural space is an important concept for the College. It has formed the underpinning for the consideration and creation of the campus center. We have looked again at a "pod" concept with several specific offices. The offices would be assignable to a particular group while it exists on campus-for some groups that might very well mean for a number of years. However, the spaces need to be decorated and able to be decorated in the style favored by particular multicultural or multiethnic groups. The space should also be approachable in such a way that individual members of particular ethnic groups can have a sense of "safety" and they are able to reach a space without fear of physical or verbal assault as well as a space that allows for sense of security during times of great physical or emotional instability. The space also needs to provide for educational purposes by having display areas for books, materials (ethnically related weavings, paintings, sculpture, etc.), and drawings. Comfortable lounging and meeting space should also be part of this pod concept.

Gallery/Exhibition Space

The gallery/exhibition space is designed to serve student art work displayed in a style to enhance viewing. The present space located in the lower level of the Forum is not adequate and is not in a high traffic area. One change that will need to be considered is safety for artwork. Presently student artwork, as part of the culture, is generally not stolen or vandalized. Putting such work in more public places in the campus center might increase its vulnerability to theft or vandalism.

Student Affairs Offices

The Student Affairs Offices should include space for the VP for Student Services, Dean of Students, Residence Life, Academic Advising, Multicultural Affairs, International Student Services, and Campus Center and Student Activities. An outer office area should be created to allow for secretarial support and to allow for collaboration among members of the Student Affairs Staff. A separate workroom is needed for processing student mailings and working on large projects. These offices should be located above ground for privacy and to allow staff to maintain the confidentiality of students.

Craft Workshop

Photography and pottery are the two courses currently offered in the craft workshop. The pottery area needs to be large enough to accommodate several pottery wheels and a separate room for a kiln. The kiln should be located in an area where it will not be a hazard. The photography workshop should include a teaching space and a darkroom for developing film.

General Support

General support includes spaces for shipping and receiving, housekeeping, storage for the physical plant, space for a bailer, and recycling. This area should also include space for a trash compactor, can wash, container and holding rack. In addition, a closet is needed for telephone connections and data services. A/V equipment should be located in a separate storage room.

Parking

There will be greater pressure on the parking system with the removal of the Darby parking lot. New parking should be located close to the campus center and new residence halls.

General Dining

The campus center should provide a central dining theme that will allow the College community an opportunity to gather in one central location interacting in various ways. The dining area of the campus center should be designed to allow students, faculty, staff and visitors to experience the greater Grinnell community. Smaller alcoves for more private dining would surround the general dining area. A variety of spaces and furniture arrangements should support many different types of gatherings, small group dining, large groups, parties and lectures, etc. Private dining rooms (PDR's) should be located adjacent to the main dining space to allow use by student groups and include self- contained kitchens. The architectural character of the main dining space should represent the sense of Grinnell College. The design should reflect a warm, human scale, comfortable space that represents the quality of the Grinnell campus environment. The main dining space should become part of the College home experience for students and make a positive first impression to visitors. The space should encourage faculty to come together with students and each other in general dining areas, alcoves and private dining rooms. The dining area should be designed with multi-height space that will offer the variety of desired dining experiences. The main dining room should have sweeping views of the fields to the north.

Servery (Marketplace)

The serving area should create an atmosphere that features freshly prepared food in an ever-changing environment. Lines must be kept to a minimum during peak meal times. The program lists individual food station components. The goal is to create flexibility for an evolving menu including "cook to order" stations where appropriate, elevating the quality of the food and satisfaction of the dining community. Examples of the possible food stations are: grill, deli, pizza, pasta salad/soup, beverage, condiment, kosher, vegan/vegetarian. The final decision would be based on the menu development from student input. Architecturally, the stations, signage, lighting and station atmosphere should create individual identity for food offerings while creating overall coherence as a related system of service points.

Kitchen/Storage/Dishwashing

The kitchen must support general food preparation, for all meals and special functions, such as holiday dinners and other special meals. The central kitchen should also support catering preparation for the campus with a catering servery adjacent to the kitchen. This scenario brings together staff in one location thus creating efficiency. Also, receiving and food distribution is centralized. The kitchen area needs adequate space hot and cold food preparation as well as for dry storage, refrigeration storage, freezer storage, receiving and recycling/waste. Adjacent to the kitchen should be the loading dock and the dishwashing area. Tray conveying equipment should be designed to eliminate backing up of trays on the dining side and ease of operation with a minimum of staff on the dish room side. An acoustical separation from the dining areas and kitchen is required.

Dining Offices

Offices will be needed to house the Director of Dining Services, Assistant Directors, Chef and Production Manager. An outer office area should be created for reception and clerical support. A separate conference room is needed to double for staff meetings and a training area. These offices need to be accessible from the public area. Located in close proximity to the kitchen will be staff lockers/toilet facilities for use by 40 kitchen personnel.

Pioneer One-Card Office

An area with public access is needed for the Pioneer One-Card Office. This will be a heavy traffic area and needs to allow for clerical, multiple computer stations and printers, photo staging area and general storage of records and supplies. It needs a separate exit from the entrance door for traffic flow during peak periods. Also, a reception area is needed for those waiting to get their P-Card processed. This office needs to be adjacent to or incorporated in the main Office of Dining Services as the dining service has administrative responsibilities for the P-Card.

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