CULINARY INSTITUTE IN EUGENE, OR

In my last second year studio, we were tasked with designing a Culinary Institute on the corner of 4th and High Street in Eugene, Oregon. This program called for innovative strategies, as it is relatively unfamiliar, and would be one of very limited culinary centers in this area of Oregon. Site integration was an important factor in this project, both in following site conditions such as sunlight and views, as well as site organization, by integrating both the grid of the railroad and the street system, and following that order in the mass timber structure and building form.

I won the peer nominated award for best overall design, chosen among 84 projects.

Part of the program necessitated the use of a 15,000 square foot community garden, as to be a welcoming public space for the community, as well as shorten the building site coverage. My main interpretation of this was to create a landscape to elevate the community, lifting them off the street and into the community kitchen where all are welcome, passing through accessible terraced gardens where they will view the food growing on the edges as they proceed up into the dining space on the second floor. This terraced landscape was then reflected in the form of the building, which allowed for generous outdoor patio spaces, providing views and inspiration for students and faculty who were lifted up into the higher floors.