Hurricane Katrina gave this hospital the reason and the resources to upgrade its thirty-five-year-old, 18,000 square foot dietary department to bring it up and into the twenty-first century. Fortunately, because new equipment could be integrated into the existing utility infrastructure, the fast-track schedule was met to the satisfaction of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The sale of the existing urban facility provided ample funds to purchase new land in a remote London suburb and to hire Kieran Timberlake to design a striking new embassy. Its expansive, light-filled cafeteria was designed to host important embassy events formerly held off-site at great expense. To add to the benefits, a new cafe offers a perfect venue for staff happy hours.
Renzo Piano’s award-winning tower was fit out by Gensler and includes a major transformation of the Times’ old food service system. A full-service catering kitchen also was designed for the Times Center for in-house use and for commercial caterers.
The new SOM-designed conference center provides housing and meal service as well as catering to conferees and will use minimum amounts of energy and water to do so.