Drake University Hubbell Cafeteria

MODUS provided mechanical, electrical, plumbing, lighting, and technology design for the renovation of Hubbell Dining Hall, Drake University's primary campus dining facility. INVISION led the design team and Story Construction served as general contractor on a project that gutted and rebuilt the kitchen, replaced the food service equipment, reworked the serving stations, and refreshed the dining areas with new paint, carpet, furniture, and selective framing.

The MEP scope reached most of the building. MODUS replaced the plumbing and mechanical systems in full, designed replacement of roughly 80 percent of the electrical systems, and laid out new lighting across 60 to 70 percent of the floor area. Kitchen ventilation drove much of the mechanical design, with seven new hood systems serving the reconfigured cooking lines.

To reduce operating cost, MODUS engineers designed a variable speed makeup air system that modulates airflow to match actual hood demand. Campus dining loads swing widely between peak meal service and off hours, and the variable speed approach captures energy savings during the long stretches of part load operation that define a typical day.

The existing building constrained nearly every routing decision. MODUS coordinated hood locations, duct runs, and equipment placement around unique structural components and legacy conditions the renovation retained, resolving potential conflicts with INVISION and Story Construction before they reached the field.

The renovation ran inside the 2020 summer term. When COVID-19 precautions moved the student return date up by a week, Drake asked for the building sooner, and the team delivered one week ahead of the original schedule. That compression depended on design decisions that held up under field conditions, and MODUS supported construction through the accelerated closeout. The completed facility serves high-volume food service, daily student use, straightforward maintenance access for Drake's facilities staff, and future changes to the dining program.