Nevada Union High School
Student Center / Cafeteria

Nevada Union School District
Grass Valley, California

2,400 Students
Grades 9-12
Occupancy: 2008

The existing high school cafeteria occuped a prominent, central location within the campus and needed to be enlarged and updated to provide a viable facility that would keep students on campus for dining while also fulfilling a desire to make a place they would want to use for activities. In recent years off-campus lunch had become the norm along with renting area meeting halls for school sanctioned dances.
The existing kitchen and cafeteria at Nevada Union HS had not changed significantly from its 1961 opening when it was designed for 1,800 kids. Primary goals for this make-over were to improve the food service operation along with an increase in the size and functionality of the served area. To achieve this, the existing kitchen was completely re-constructed and nearly doubled in area with a 1,400 sf addition. The cafeteria space has been transformed with the enclosure of an existing adjacent 3,300 sf patio area that is incorporated spatially into the new multi-use student common area with structural steel braced frames at the existing concrete wall between the two spaces. The focus of the 9,400 square foot combined assembly area is a media wall that houses a 20’ x 14’ motor controlled viewing screen with a digital projector located in the ceiling. This wall is designed to accommodate a removable stage for performances and assemblies. Analysis of the room’s acoustics led the designers to include in the ceiling a series of suspended sloping acoustic panels below the existing roof structure which received sound insulation on the underside. Together these ceiling components act to absorb and diffuse sound achieving remarkably fine acoustics for a multi-use space. New large skylights and clerestory openings glazed with insulated translucent panels that reduce heat loss and gain while also diffusing direct sunlight are featured in the space that for media viewing can be darkened with motor controlled rolling shade devices. Included in the design is a remote serving kitchen that is used to diffuse student serving lines and can be used as a warming kitchen for non-school related activity by local groups that rent the space from the district.