Massive dining commons at SFU Burnaby campus to open in new school year

Artistic rendering of SFU Dining Commons. (DIALOG/SFU)

At some point during the upcoming school year, students living in residence at Simon Fraser University’s (SFU) Burnaby Mountain campus will have access to new dedicated dining facilities.

This is a significant expansion of the existing dining hall, providing students with new and improved food and beverage options, all within a restaurant-like setting — a clear departure from the standard cafeteria configuration.

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Known as the Dining Commons, the expansion replaces an area north of the existing dining hall that was previously used as surface parking. It is located at the western terminus of the campus spine, which is also the eastern end of the student housing cluster.

Construction progress on SFU Dining Commons on July 17, 2021. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Angela Wilson, the senior director of media relations and public affairs for SFU, told Daily Hive Urbanized this is a 30,000 sq ft addition, which roughly triples the size of the existing dining facility — increasing its seated capacity from 300 to 800 students, including a mezzanine level overlooking the entire two-storey space, and a patio.

A variety of seating configurations will be provided, everything from family-style tables to bistro and bar seating.

There will be a total of 14 new culinary stations, offering global cuisine focusing on local and seasonal ingredients, and plant-forward options.

Artistic rendering of SFU Dining Commons. (DIALOG/SFU)

The new facility accommodates a variety of experiences for eating, socializing, studying, and leisure. Students will also be offered with a new and improved MyPantry self-cooking station as a backdrop to building community between students.

The Dining Commons is currently in an advanced stage of construction, with completion now anticipated sometime this winter, either in late 2021 or early 2022.

The combined construction cost for the renovation of the existing dining hall and the new attached Dining Commons expansion is $25.8 million. The architectural design firm is DIALOG.

Construction progress on SFU Dining Commons on July 17, 2021. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

sfu dining commons construction july 17 2021

Construction progress on SFU Dining Commons on July 17, 2021. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Previous condition of the existing SFU Dining Hall before renovations. (SFU)

This project is a necessary component of the university’s Residence and Housing Master Plan, providing a significant increase in dining amenity capacity to meet the substantial growth in the student residence population.

Two months earlier, SFU opened two newly completed student residence buildings, creating an additional 482 student beds. A second phase of the current student housing expansion project will add an additional 362 beds by 2023.

The university states it expects to house about 2,000 students in Fall 2021, with occupancy of the units expected to be between 80% and 100%. Health safety procedures are aided by the single-occupancy configuration of all of SFU’s residence rooms.

“This year we have seen a surge in applications later than usual, as students have waited to know what fall 2021 would look like. We are still making offers to students for fall term housing,” said Wilson.

Student housing cluster at SFU Burnaby, with new buildings on the left and older buildings on the right. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Student housing cluster at SFU Burnaby, with new buildings on the right and older buildings on the left. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

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