University of Cincinnati, MarketPointe Dining Hall, Wall Installation

Experiential Graphics- Small Scale (features or elements)

Project Narrative

At any university, drawing students out of their rooms and into community with peers is critical for student success. The renovation of the MarketPointe's dining hall at the University of Cincinnati creates a unique destination for students to eat and socialize. Informed by MarketPointe's original International Style design, the new wall feature helps give the space a dynamic and distinctive new landmark.

Inspired by the white circles in MarketPointe's original terrazzo floor, the design team intentionally selected a circle with the same radius as the corners of the wood ceiling and servery to create consistency and further integrate into the design of the ongoing renovation. Originally intended to be a flat wall cover, the team wanted to evoke the dimensionality found in MarketPointe's original waffle slab ceiling. The team turned to a more dimensional approach by giving the pattern depth and sloping its faces. Rearranging the quarters gave the wall the texture and rhythm the team sought.

Initial estimates for the wall were inflated because bidders weren't sure what it would take to build it. We used our in-house digital fabrication capacity to develop a high-density foam mockup that provided proof of concept to our fabrication partners. Local partner ADEX International was able to translate our mockup into a buildable plan using hollowed out MDF. By demonstrating its buildability, communicating this to partners, and collaborating with local fabricators, not only did the team create a distinctive element for the project, but the process also reduced initial cost estimates by 35%.