Engineering students finally have a place to grab a snack, get some coffee and catch up on their chemistry homework without walking halfway across Grounds. The new Wilsdorf Café is now open on the first floor of Wilsdorf Hall, home to the departments of materials science, chemical engineering and nanotechnology.
Designers began planning the Wilsdorf Hall project in 2001, according to Libba Bowling, project manager for the facilities management department.
"The café was always ... an integral part of it," she said.
Bowling said Wilsdorf Café was designed as an area for students and faculty of different departments in or surrounding Wilsdorf Hall to collaborate. The layout of the café was designed to promote this purpose, including a comfortable area with couches, cushioned chairs and coffee tables, a section with tables and an upstairs area.
While discussing their work, café patrons can choose from menu selections including Java City coffee drinks and Fresh Market smoothies, along with fruit, yogurt, parfaits, pastries and other snacks.
Although the food and drink selection is relatively similar to other eateries on Grounds, students said they enjoy the café for its comfort.
"It's really comfortable, second-year College student Megan Dougherty said. "I like all the couches."
Other students said they preferred the tranquil environment of the upstairs area.
First-year College student Casey Woodward said she likes the upstairs where "you can sort of spread out but also sort of be in a more relaxed environment than the library."
Students described the café in general as not very loud or busy and a good place to study and do work.
Second-year College student Jennifer Shen said the primary reason she likes the café is because of its quiet atmosphere.
"People talk really loudly when they're in Crossroads," Shen said. "Here, it seems like people are studying."
Woodward also said there are good workspaces available in the café, an attribute Bowling said was planned.
"That's really what it's meant to be, an area to collaborate, for people to come and talk about projects," Bowling said.
The modernity of the café is also a product of its design.
"Because this is an engineering research building, I think both the architect and the interior designer tried to make it kind of cutting edge-like," Bowling said.
Although Dougherty, Woodward and Shen are all College students, none of them said they found the Wilsdorf Café inconvenient because of its location in the Engineering School.
Woodward said the café in Alderman Library is far from her dorm.
"I'm a first year, so it's much more convenient to come here instead of all the way to Alderman" she said.
Dougherty too said the café was convenient because of her classes in nearby Ruffner and Gilmer halls.
"I think initially [the café] was designed for the Engineering School, but I think it's going to get a lot more use than that," Bowling said.
Bowling, a graduate of the Engineering School, said when she was a student, she thought the Engineering School "was very closed in and very cloistered" and thinks the café will allow for more collaboration and interaction between schools and students in general.
Not all College students, however, find the Wilsdorf Café location convenient. First-year College student Lavendar Phan said she has not gone to the café.
"I'm not in the Engineering School so it wouldn't really be convenient for me," Phan said.
Phan said she was also unaware of the location.
Phan is not the only one unaware of the café's exact location. Shen also said the signs posted promoting the café when it opened were vague. According to Shen, all the signs said were to "come in the direction of this general building."
Woodward said the café's discreet location is a positive attribute.
"I love [the café] especially because it's sort of tucked away," Woodward said. "Not everyone's found it yet."
U.Va. Dining is attempting to make the cafe more well-known with a "Name the Café Contest" for all members of the University.
Second-year Engineering student Emily Baldwin, who said she comes to the cafe at least once a day, noted that she had been calling it "the new building" or "Wilsdorf." Baldwin said she does not have any ideas for the name but would probably suggest something related to the Engineering School.
Baldwin said the contest is fun because it it is a way not to have to pay to get to name something.
The person whose café name is selected will be awarded 100 Plus Dollars, and five semi-finalists will be given 10 Plus Dollars.
Though the Wilsdorf Café has yet to be found by all students or even named, a new café is already being designed. Bowling said another small dining area is in the design stage as part of the South Lawn Project.
The Wilsdorf Café is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and is closed Saturdays and Sundays.
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