OLIN SANG RUBY UNION INSTITUTE DINING / MEETING FACILITY

Oconomowoc, WI: 199_

An approximately 20,000 SF dining and meeting facility for a religious camp in Southern Wisconsin, just west of Milwaukee. The program called for a 10,000 SF state-of-the-art commercial kitchen, as well as a 10,000 SF hall which had the capacity to be subdivided into five rooms of unequal size, but which were each directly accessible from the outside as well as from the food service area. In order to enhance social interaction in the space--especially during the singing that frequently follows meals there--the floor slopes gradually downward from both ends toward roughly its midpoint. This allows those sitting in one leg of the hall to better view the songleader over the heads of those in front, as well as across to those seated in the opposite leg. The lowpoint, where the songleader stands, coincides with a bend in the plan of the boomerang-shaped hall, which precisely directs the focus of its two ends upon the surrounding landscape: to the northwest, upon a wooded grove and outdoor meeting area; and to the east, upon a red barn (the camp's original structure) in an open meadow (the only remaining unprogrammed open space in the camp). The roof of the dining hall extends well past the interior enclosure at each end to create covered entry porches. At these ends, where most of the camp's pathways converge, a series of full-height pivoting clear-plastic wall panels may be opened on Friday evenings in summer, when the porches serve as a place of greeting and welcome to campers arriving for the traditional dinner.

Along the south side of the building, a third path splits off from the hall that leads to the Lodge/ Conference Center. This bifurcation was initiated in response to the need to preserve an old and venerable tree. It is marked by the fireplace, which also marks the point of entry to the two largest of the rooms into which the hall subdivides. Also along this path, on its north side, are two clear-finished, board-and-batten cedar vestibules which serve as separate entries into two other of the rooms into which the hall divides. Along its curving north wall, meanwhile, the dining space interfaces with the food service area. Access to this area from each of the dining halls is marked by the peeling back of this masonry wall. This configuration serves as a sound diffusing device which enhances the acoustical reflectivity that allows sound to carry through the space. While these "curls" form cabinets where the moveable partitions are stored, the remaining sides of those closets are faced in the same polycarbonate used at the ends of the hall. Because the walls of the closet extend through the flat lower roof of the kitchen wing, they allow the ordinarily mundane cabinets, when not filled, to operate as monitors bringing natural light into a portion of the building that would otherwise be deprived of access to the exterior.

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