The Union Drive Marketplace (UDM) unveiled its latest renovation from the summer when it opened its doors for the year Aug. 16.

The recently finished renovations did not include many structural changes and instead focused on cosmetic features.

“When we came in, I was like, ‘this place looks like a five-star restaurant,’” Jamal Bojang, a junior studying mechanical engineering, said.

ISU Dining collaborated with the company PUSH Branding + Design, which developed a new design concept for UDM. PUSH also contributed to other dining locations, including the naming of Lance and Ellie’s and Heaping Plato.

“It feels really fresh, like light,” Kjirsten Daleiden-Brugman, a freshman majoring in architecture, said. “It really emphasizes the airiness of the building and the big space and big windows.”

The new layout is based on a three-part theme of morning, noonday and night.

Morning, on the east end of the dining center, has brighter shades of paint and gold-colored ceiling decorations. The design’s purpose is to open the space and emphasize the start of the day as the sunrise peaks through the windows.

The middle seating area is decorated with white and green paint and living air plants to represent noonday.

The back side of the dining center, which was redesigned last year, contains black paint and star-like hanging lights to embrace the darkness of night.

“Students can kind of find, like, the area that appeals to them most during their day,” said Karen Rodekamp, associate director of engagement for ISU Dining. “It just gives some different feelings to, you know, fit their mood.”

Other additions include new tables and chairs.

“I remember that there weren’t cushioned benches, so that’s a nice upgrade,” Daleiden-Brugman said. “I think they’re comfortable and nice to look at.”

Several food stations have new locations within the serving areas to improve service flow for students and staff. Before the renovations, certain food lines would often collide.

A missing area that students may notice is the soft-serve ice cream station. The ice cream machines are unable to support UDM’s capacity and may be relocated to Friley Windows in the future.

Novelty ice cream treats and other desserts will still be served throughout UDM. In the future, scooped ice cream may also be available.

UDM’s summer makeover marks the third phase of a four-part renovation plan. UDM received its first renovation in summer 2019 when the upstairs mezzanine and conference room were completed.

UDM first opened in 2003 with equipment that should be replaced every 15 years, meaning upgrades were needed around 2018.

“Once you replace [the equipment], you might as well replace the facade as well,” Rodekamp said. “And if you do that, it’s like, if you give a mouse a cookie…and then it becomes a whole project.”

The total cost of all four phases of UDM’s renovation will be $5.6 million, according to Rodekamp.

All four phases of the renovation were initially scheduled to finish in the summer of 2022, but plans were delayed a year due to COVID-19.

UDM is scheduled to receive its last round of renovations in the summer of 2023.