Talking Stick - May/June 2016 - 52

esidence life and housing professionals are always seeking the perfect ingredients in the recipe
for success for building community. Some would say that the main staple in the pantry is hall
programming and events. Having communal spaces can also bring out the flavor of a successful
student experience. One such space is the kitchen, which is designed not only to bring students
together but also to create nourishment and remind them of home.
Most campus residential facilities have some sort of functional kitchen space, as housing
professionals and architects have begun to see the value of such community space on both an
individual apartment and residence hall level. Mackey Mitchell Architects, in St. Louis, Missouri,
propose three main principles for the design of residence hall kitchens: They need to be engaging
and flexible, practical, and sustainable. Whether an institution is private, public, large, or small, the
presence of kitchens in residence halls has less to do with the type of institution and more to do with
the hall design and type of community.
Community kitchens have become a staple in residence hall design, and at Vanderbilt University
in Nashville, Tennessee, they have been integrated into the construction of seven new halls added
in the last nine years. Once confined to windowless rooms in the basement, kitchens can now be
found almost anywhere in a residence hall. Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and the University of
Washington in Seattle maximized the communal nature of these spaces by placing them in the lobby.
Oxford College of Emory University in Georgia placed one on the top floor of their newest residential
building, Fleming Hall. Michele Hempfling, director of residential education services, explains that
students had requested bringing activity to the top of the building where they could gather on the
outdoor roof patio. Texas Christian University (TCU) in Fort Worth incorporated kitchens as part
of the overall design of the common space and placed a kitchen bake station near the laundry and
lounge space. From an architectural point of view, kitchen space is designed with engagement in
mind, so Mackey Mitchell Architects design kitchens as visible spaces where residents can see other
residents and be drawn into the activity.
From separate spaces to a multidimensional open space, kitchens have had to evolve along with
the needs of student communities. They can range from a traditional kitchen like that found in each
unit of an apartment-style community to a stand-alone space in a corridor-style hall; or they can
range from small kitchenettes to large catering or demonstration kitchens. Design considerations
will depend on how the space is used and which community members use the space most often. Tim
Fish, an architect with Cooper Carry in Atlanta, Georgia, notes that considerations such as a campus
dining requirement, age of residents, and cost may also impact design.

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