SFASU Eastside Dining Hall

The new Stephen F. Austin State University Eastside Dining Hall project is a one-story mass timber dining hall and student destination located at East College Avenue and Wilson Drive, in the previous location of Residence Hall 16. Occupying an important campus corner, the building showcases southern yellow pine (SYP) mass timber construction to the university students, staff, and faculty, and the local east Texas community.  

As the campus’ first mass timber building, the design reconnects the institution and Nacogdoches history back to an industry that has long since lost its glamour. Located in the heart of the Piney Woods two hours northeast of Houston, Texas, the project relies solely on SYP harvested within 500 miles of the campus. The SFA administrative powers that be hope to invigorate the local economy by demonstrating how mass timber can be leveraged to create and revitalize local timber landowners, new timber-related industries and wood manufacturing.

The new dining hall and pavilion is a mass timber structure featuring glue laminated columns and beans that support the cross-laminated timber structural roof deck. The SYP wood is exposed inside and out providing moments of biophilia and an indoor-outdoor connection throughout the seating areas and gathering spaces. Exterior materials incorporated into the facade reflect nearby campus buildings, vision glass affords significant transparency, metal cladding offers a low maintenance solution, and exposed, treated southern yellow pine structural components contribute to the overall aesthetic. While providing a space for students, faculty, and visitors to dine and gather, the dining program also includes an event space for groups to reserve, outdoor dining areas, a variety of stations providing freshly cooked food options, and opportunities for students to engage with food service staff during mealtime.

Intended to be a student-center like destination place, the main entry points to the dining hall and pavilion feature a “paseo” or covered outdoor mall used for pedestrians to pass through and access walkways located on each side of the building. The paseo, the open-air nature of the pavilion, and the historical significance of the heavy timber-like structure all harken to a time that so completely represented the history and culture of the east Texas piney woods town of Nacogdoches.

[description from https://www.kirksey.com/portfolio/projects/stephen-f-austin-state-university-east-dining-hall]