The Porter Khouw Consulting (PKC) design studio teamed with the architectural teams from Stantec and Mesher Shing McNutt to create the new dining concepts at Turner Place in Lavery Hall on the campus of Virginia Tech University. PKC provided a full slate of design services from schematic designs through design development, contract documents and construction administration services.
Located on the academic side of the picturesque Blacksburg, Virginia-campus, Turner Place (which opened in August 2012) provides much needed dining support in one of the busiest areas of campus and it fills a void left when VT decided to close Schultz Dining Hall, long-time dining center for the Corps of Cadets.
The first step in bringing this modern new venue to life was the completion of market research completed by PKC in Fall 2008. PKC team conducted extensive market research, including focus groups and interviews with campus administrators, students, faculty and staff as well as a web-based survey. Recommendations that came from the market research included customer preferences regarding concepts and menu items students and other community members would like available on campus and some of their favorite places to eat off campus. As the goal with any campus dining venue is to try to meet customers’ needs in on-campus dining venues that are currently being met off campus, VT Dining Services used this input to identify new concepts, menu offerings and designs for the soon-to-be-built Turner Place.
Turner Place is a modern, contemporary showplace. Featuring a mix of self-branded and nationally-branded concepts, the venue features multiple stations spread over two floors in the building. The emphasis is on fresh, made-to-order food and on offering foods and concepts not typically found on a college campus. Each of the venues is designed as separate restaurants and each features unique detailed entrances. Food options in the building include the following: Qdoba Mexican Grill, The Soup Garden, Dolce E Caffe, Bruegger’s Bagels (with an exterior walk-up service window), Origami (full service sushi bar and teppanyaki grills), 1872 Fire Grill (upscale steak house that offers fresh-cut steaks, seafood and rotisserie grilled meats, carved to order or grilled-to-order), Jamba Juice and the Atomic Pizzeria (featuring handmade pizzas, calzones and strombolis baked in a wood-fired grill using hard woods such as hickory, oak and maple provided by VT’s Forestry & Wildlife Club).
