Skip to main content
Culinary Arts Institute, Oakland Community College
Royal Oak, MI
Hands on education.
Expanding capacity of an award-winning culinary institute
When Oakland Community College (OCC) committed to moving their award-winning culinary program to a more urban location, they trusted HED to design a new state-of-the-art, 78,000 SF three-story facility that better connects students with the restaurant scene that represents their future workplace. The project is the first phase of a master plan for the Royal Oak, MI campus which heightens engagement with the surrounding urban fabric, maximizes the value of campus real estate, and enriches the overall student learning experience.

The culinary curriculum is supported on the upper levels by four technology-heavy teaching kitchens, each tailored to the teaching of specific skills; two demonstration kitchens suitable for both degreed curriculum and community education; and real-life practice spaces that include a fully functional restaurant kitchen and a first-floor retail space where students can sell their creations to the community. The impressive two-story volume of the third-floor hosts restaurant seating and banquet activities and offers expansive views of the heart of downtown, announcing the college’s mission of community engagement, partnership, and enhanced student and patron experiences.

At the core of the building and site design are strategies that emerged from the intersection of the values the college placed on urban design and sustainable priorities. An open and welcoming lobby, signature stair, and primary collaborative and gathering spaces are clustered along the building’s frontage on Main Street creating opportunities for the students and community to engage. In addition, strategic incorporation of layered transparency throughout the building brings daylight deeper into key programmatic learning spaces while also putting learning activities on display.

When completed for the start of classes in Fall 2025, the Culinary Studies Institute will usher in a new era for both the culinary program—which is poised for growth to take full advantage of their new home—and the OCC Royal Oak campus.
/3
1
2
3
Results
Focusing on first impressions and maximizing the use of a limited urban footprint, the campus’s central plant and receiving activities will be removed from their former prominent Main Street frontage and incorporated within a tall first-floor volume of the new facility, allowing the rest of the program to be constructed atop them and freeing up the highly visible street frontage for a variety of engaging future development activities that will enrich the campus’s connection to the urban fabric.
Strategically positioned, south facing outdoor spaces create warmer microclimates that extend outdoor gathering opportunities into the cooler months, further helping to build community and support student well-being.
Deep, efficient floor plates minimize the building’s exterior enclosure and related energy consumption, while interior pathways are primarily located along the building perimeter to promote student wellness through access to daylight and views.
Custom fritted low-e glass along with a high-performance metal rain-screen skin further reduce the building’s energy consumption.
Project Data
Culinary Arts Institute 2020-06830-000
Oakland Community College
Royal Oak, Michigan
PROJECT SCOPE
Renovation, Addition
HED ROLE
Architecture (Full Service), Structural Engineering, Mechanical/ Plumbing Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Technology Solutions, Landscape Architecture, Experiential Graphics, Interior Design
RSF/GSF
78,000
CONSTRUCTION COST
$74.0 Million
Project Team
  • Christopher Vogelheim
    AIA, LEED AP
    Principal
    Sector Leader
  • Jeff Mason
    ASLA
    Project Management
  • Christopher George
    Associate
    Design
  • Barrett Newgeon
    PE, LEED AP, LC
    Associate
    Electrical Engineering
  • Andrea Bell
    Mechanical Engineering
  • Tracy Sweeney
    AIA, LEED AP BD+C
    Associate
    Architecture
  • Kam Chow
    Electrical Design
  • John Giroux
    Design
  • Jack Bullo
    AIA, LEED AP
    Principal
    Design / Architecture
  • Jack Bullo
    AIA, LEED AP
    Principal
    Design / Architecture
  • Mark Hieber
    ASLA, LEED AP
    Principal
    Landscape Architecture
  • Jonathan Tull
    Design
  • Joseph Furwa
    AIA, LEED AP
    Principal
    Technical Architecture Leader
  • Lawrence Yetter
    CIPE, LEED AP
    Associate
    Mechanical Design
Expanding capacity of an award-winning culinary institute
Culinary Arts Institute, Oakland Community College
Royal Oak, MI
PROJECT DATA
Hands on education.