In a visionary move, Kirkwood Community College completed conceptual planning for a facility to bring three of their very successful programs under one roof. The goal was to provide students in the hospitality and culinary arts program with real-world experience managing a first-class hotel, restaurant, and conference center. Combined, The Hotel at Kirkwood, A Class Act restaurant and the Kirkwood Conference Center provide students with a state-of-the-art training facility and offers the community and guests access to the amenities of a boutique hotel, gourmet restaurant and high-end conference center.

The flexible conference center was designed to accommodate a range of events from small meetings to large gatherings.

Amphitheater
The teaching amphitheater was designed to host up to 100 people with spacious, tiered, theater-style seating. At the front of the room, a counter array is equipped with the fixtures found in a high-end kitchen including two ovens, a cooktop, sink, refrigerator, and wine fridge. Flat-panel LCD television are mounted above and behind the array providing a detailed view of the action. This space was designed for cooking demonstrations and classes.

Ballroom
The large ballroom accommodates over 900 patrons standing or seating for 500. The space is equipped with ceiling mounted projectors and strategically positioned large screens to facilitate large presentations.

Breakout Rooms
Plans called for four separate break out rooms. These smaller rooms range in size from 680 to 820 square feet and seat up to 55 people. Each room is optimally equipped for a variety of events including ceiling mounted projectors and screens and movable tables and chairs to quickly reconfigure the room to suit the meeting purpose.

Business Event Room
Larger than the break out rooms, but more intimate than the ballroom, the Business Event Room is equipped with leather ergonomic chairs, a floor-to-ceiling pocketed white board, ceiling mounted projectors and screens, document camera, pushpin surface walls, the very latest audio/video technology, and free tech support.

The Hotel Board Room
368 square feet in the Hotel lobby. High-end leather ergonomic seating for 12 and contemporary business technology for intimate meetings.

The Hotel Conference Room
Located in the chic Hotel lobby, OPN designed the space to accommodate high-end flexible seating for 20. Discrete single-site and multi-site HD videoconferencing capabilities were built-in and wired at each place setting.