The University of South Carolina’s new Gamecock Park dining hall is a comprehensive transformation of the second-floor dining space inside the Russell House university union. This renovation created a dynamic new on-campus culinary destination that celebrates University branding and reflects the energy of the modern campus.

Dining stations are grouped along the interior wall to provide equitable access to the shared dish room and support spaces behind the scenes. A new full height wall is strategically placed to provide visual buffer between the dish drop and the dining room. New moveable furniture of variable heights and sizes are easily rearranged so diners can create their desired seating groupings.

The textures, colors, and shapes of the new fixtures and finishes celebrate beloved Gamecock motifs. Black and garnet terrazzo flooring and abstract felt acoustic ceiling fins wrap around the food stations, referencing the Gamecock’s flowing tailfeathers and subtly suggesting traffic flow through the dining room. Decorative screens above bar seating incorporate the veil block pattern motif seen in the original architectural skin on the building’s exterior façade. Tile backsplash and bar fronts incorporate the hexagonal, wooden, and subway patterns reminiscent of the farmhouse aesthetic.

Photography by Robert Oswald