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.
This $112 million design–build project with Arrington Watkins and AECOM houses 960 high-security inmates along with an adjacent minimum security component for an additional 128 inmates. HOPKINS also designed the laundry operation.
As a consultant to URS Corporation, HOPKINS designed a new 25,000 square foot dining hall to serve up to 3,000 soldiers 22 hours a day. When the budget for this project was slashed, HOPKINS was sent to Djibouti to survey surplus foodservice equipment in storage to identify pieces that could be salvaged to allow the project to proceed through construction.
This HDR-designed hospital takes advantage of new technologies in food service equipment design to offer the perks of at-your-service, hotel-style dining to our nation’s military.