St. Stephen’s Dining Hall & Student Center

A new Dining Hall and Student Center designed by Andersson•Wise Architects for St. Stephen’s Episcopal School in Austin replaced an aging, obsolete dining center with a modern state-of-the-art facility. The new complex serves as a center for student life — a place where both boarding and day students gather in community for a daily meal in close proximity to spaces for relaxing, games, and support services such as college counseling, the International Center, and academic tutoring.

The siting of the buildings and the Dining Room’s wall of windows overlooking the Texas Hill Country follow design guidelines established by our firm in a Site Master Plan twenty years earlier. With this project, the campus also completed a long-term transition from a car-oriented to a pedestrian-dominant campus — guided by the same Site Master Plan. Service and emergency access are amply provided within the pedestrian setting.

The site design focuses on connections both within and beyond the complex, which stands as a centerpiece between academic, residential, and athletic zones on campus. Scenic pathways and a variety of open spaces connect the various functions within the DHSC to the other parts of campus. Native limestone and pink granite, indigenous plant materials, and the carefully protected Live Oak canopy nestle the buildings into the landscape, reflect the site’s Hill Country environs, and help visually unify the campus.