Students, faculty, staff and other guests pack the V&A Café for its grand opening. (Photo by Noah Berger)V&A Café brings dining and collaboration to Etcheverry
The Berkeley Engineering community now has an inviting new space for meetings and collaboration in Etcheverry Hall. The V&A Café officially opened last Thursday with a lively celebration by members of the college community.
The café, located on the third floor near the breezeway between Etcheverry and Soda halls, was made possible by a generous donation from Andrew (M.S.’72, Ph.D.’78 IEOR, M.B.A.’76) and Virginia Rudd. The space includes expansive indoor seating as well as a glassed-in deck on the south side of the building.
Situated near facilities for industrial engineering and operations research, mechanical engineering, nuclear engineering and electrical engineering and computer sciences, as well at the Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation, the café is ideally located to foster interdisciplinary collaborations and community-building.
“Bringing people together,” said Dean Shankar Sastry during his celebratory remarks, “this is what creates the kind of partnerships and innovative thinking that can lead to amazing breakthroughs and discoveries.”
The café space is just the latest in a series of upgrades to the facilities in Etcheverry Hall, which was built in 1964. Some of the most recent changes include renovations on the fourth and sixth floors, classroom improvements, remodeled restrooms and upgraded fire sprinklers. Also, the Jacobs Institute metal shop, located in Etcheverry Hall, is now completed and fully operational.