Baltimore International College – School of Culinary Arts

The project involved the transformation of a historic, 1970 Baltimore City High School building into a state of the art facility for culinary training. Connected to a historic, though unused, school building, this project, located in Little Italy, at the corner of Pratt Street and Central Avenue, not only adds 32,500 net square feet to the College’s current laboratory floor space, but it also allows students use of the most cutting edge equipment available.

The CMaR design/build delivery method was utilized to meet a very tight budget and an aggressive 11-month design and construction schedule. The entire renovation was completed at a cost of just $85 per square foot.

The exterior of the building received upgrades, including a new window system consisting of thermally broken aluminum framing and insulated glazing, new exterior doors and frames, and an elevator addition at the link to the historic building outside both existing buildings to allow access to the newly renovated, three-story structure. Site work included the addition of a recreation courtyard, which highlighted brick pavers that defined the urban kitchen garden, its foundation, and leisure picnic area.

Interior improvements included the transformation of a portion of the basement parking garage to classrooms and offices for the Shipping/Receiving curriculum; extensive foundation modifications were employed to facilitate new access into the elevator and other common areas.

In total, the project created eight new culinary laboratories, a student dining facility, a greenhouse, administrative offices, executive chef offices, and a student athletic area/auditorium. The mechanical and electrical systems were entirely replaced to provide for the high demands of the new culinary labs and state of the art kitchen facilities.