DePauw University Hoover Dining Hall

Modern Dining with Georgian Influence

One of the most challenging aspects of designing and building the new Hoover Dining Hall was to make the new building look as if were always a part of the 175-year-old DePauw University campus.

Constructed in the Georgian style, popular between 1720 and 1830, Hoover Hall features steep-angled slate roofs with copper accents, hand-molded red brick, Indiana limestone and painted trim that blends with the rest of the campus.

The hall serves as the primary dining space for first-year students and upper-class students living in University housing. The facility will seat more than 600 students in the main dining room, with dozens more available to dine and come together in an array of smaller dining room.

One important element of the building includes the large windows, installed to showcase activity within the building to the surrounding quad, serving to draw students into the building. Turner, J.C. Ripberger and Kenny Glass worked closely from the earliest stages of the project’s development to support the architectural vision of double hung transom windows spanning up to 85 by 118 inches. Turner confirmed each opening was exact, thus ensuring the windows would install quickly and smoothly. Every maneuver had to be planned and orchestrated in advance, as there was only 20 feet between the perimeter fence and the exterior wall of the building.

While DePauw’s new dining hall may maintain a traditional exterior, its interior shifts from dated cafeteria lines in favor of exhibition-style cooking with a menu of foods from around the world.