Dayton VA Medical Center Commercial Kitchen

Vision

This project entailed transitioning a sixty-year-old building, that had last seen an upgrade over twenty-five years ago, from a cook/chill commissary to a production kitchen/satellite model. The production kitchen serves over 1,200 meals per day across a 360-acre campus.

Design

This project was not only a physical change for the leadership team and kitchen staff at the Dayton VA Medical Center, but also a mindset adjustment, as the program transitioned to more scratch cooking and a higher standard of food quality delivered to their clients.

Based on the extended timeline for the project and the need to renovate the space currently occupied, without dropping any meal service on the campus, RDG also led the design and implementation process for a temporary kitchen.

Impact

The temporary kitchen was in place for over one year. We used the temporary kitchen to introduce the new cook/delivery concept to the staff and we re-used a significant number of equipment pieces in the new production kitchen upon its completion.