UNH Holloway Commons Dining Hall
North Branch Construction was awarded the Construction Management with Pre-construction contract for the renovation and expansion of Holloway Commons Dining Hall (HoCo) in November 2013. The project was shelved for over a year to make substantial changes to the program scope, increasing the project budget from $5 million to $10.5 million, $8.8 million of which made up North Branch Construction’s total contract value.
This project began in May 2015 as final exams started and involved an enormous scope of fast-track expansion and renovations to HoCo—the University of New Hampshire’s flagship dining hall—located at 75 Main Street in Durham. Construction totaled 30,000 square feet and included two new additions and extensive renovations to existing spaces on five floors.
The theme to the newly renovated dining hall is “garden terrace” which includes open grid ceilings and large, nearly three-story views from upper terraces. The renovations took all exterior patios and moved them into additional indoor seating areas and moved the main entrance further down the hallway in an effort to open up options for entering the building. The dish area was expanded into the rotunda and a new relocated staircase replaced the existing one, creating a more open and accessible serving area. Three elevators were installed as part of ADA accommodations—two that access all floors of the building and a small handicap elevator near the Dunkin Donuts that accesses a half floor rise.
A three-floored dining area connected with terraces, balconies, and split-level staircases was added, with natural light coming in from a wall of windows. A Dunkin Donuts was completely gutted and moved to a new location.
