HYDE PARK, NY – Construction is currently underway for a $25 million expansion at The Culinary Institute of America’s (CIA) Student Recreation Center in Hyde Park. Constructed by Kirchhoff-Consigli Construction Management (KCCM), the newly transformed Student Commons will almost double the size of the existing Student Recreation Center from 55,000 square feet to 100,000 square feet, including a microbrewery—the Brooklyn Brewery’s latest educational outpost. Designed to evoke an old warehouse, this teaching brewery is the most recent result of the CIA’s 25-year partnership with the Brooklyn-based brew masters.

The new Student Commons will house a fully operational seven-barrel microbrewery, on view through a glass-walled exterior, which will serve as a classroom for the CIA’s Advanced Wine, Beverage and Hospitality curriculum. In addition to its role as a classroom, the brewery will also sponsor continuing education programs and produce four signature beers for the CIA.

The centerpiece of the expansion, called “The Egg” is an oval area that will host a range of dining options, including menus developed by CIA kitchens, a café, pastry shop, pop-up restaurant space and a marketplace for fresh provisions.

Architects Noelker and Hull, in collaboration with nationally renowned interior architect, Adam Tihany—famous for his design of luxury hotels and restaurants—designed the new Student Commons which also incorporates state-of-the art recreation facilities and a new dean’s wing.

Construction completion is scheduled for summer 2015.