To meet the much needed classroom and culinary laboratory space demands of The Hospitality College, Johnson & Wales University selected Vision 3 Architects and Dimeo Construction Company to assist with planning, programming, design, and construction of a 7,500-square-foot renovation to Xavier Academic Hall.
Providing students with a complete restaurant experience, the facility features four new culinary laboratories that include a 1,200-square-foot kitchen lab, two 900-square-foot dining labs, and a 1,200-square-foot beverage lab. The interior of the dining lab was designed to simulate a high-end, contemporary, French bistro restaurant. The kitchen lab features the latest technological advances in equipment to provide students the experience of a real world commercial kitchen operation. The project also included the renovation of 4,200-square-feet of space for use as faculty offices and meeting rooms.
Also accomplished over the summer was a $1.25 million expansion and renovation of the Friendship Center in Providence. A Children’s Friend establishment, the Friendship Center is an early learning school servicing approximately 300 children. The facility provides Head Start services to support the well-being and healthy development of Rhode Island’s most vulnerable children.
Together, Vision 3 and Gilbane Building Company delivered the facility in time for the school opening. The building improvements included a 1,700-square-foot entrance addition that highlights the organization’s identity in the community. The project also included a welcoming lobby, a reception area that facilitates controlled building access and improved security for the children, and a large capacity meeting room that functions as a community assembly space. Renovations of the existing building included new fire protection systems, new interior finishes, new restrooms, and an improved faculty and administrative area.