Kitchens are busy places where food is stored and prepared, and hygiene is important. With heavy usage and footfall, it is important to make well-considered design choices to ensure that a kitchen area is functional and easy to use.
Elements of a Commercial Kitchen
Health and safety is essential in any commercial kitchen in order to ensure that it meets statutory requirements. A good kitchen design will allow for these requirements to be met.
A good layout is crucial for a commercial kitchen, with good design decisions allowing for a productive space that’s easy to work in, no matter how busy the area gets.
Inventory and space management are important considerations, as they help to ensure that the kitchen area is reaching its maximum potential.
Sustainability is an increasingly important factor for any business, not only in terms of reducing waste to reduce costs but also as a moral obligation to help protect our planet. Energy-efficient appliances, effective waste management systems and biodegradable packing solutions can all be integrated into kitchen design.
Incorporating technology into the commercial kitchen is now common practice. From ordering tools to menu software with clever design choices, these can all be integrated into the work area for optimum benefit.
Commercial Kitchen Design
Commercial kitchen design from specialists such as https://www.targetcatering.co.uk/commercial-kitchen-designers can provide a fully comprehensive planning and consulting service.
As well as ensuring that any kitchen or food preparation area is fully compliant with the relevant legislation, they can also work to create a completely bespoke space where cooking style, budget and even your menu options all play a pivotal role in having a space that meets your needs.
A specialist in commercial kitchen design will ensure that your space is functional, compliant and energy-efficient and works in a way that truly supports your business’s needs and objectives.
Making the most of a small kitchen
Not every commercial kitchen has generous floor space, and a compact hotel, restaurant or pub kitchen needs even more careful planning. Professional design advice is often the best starting point, because a specialist will know ranges of equipment you may not have considered and can suggest ways to use the room differently, such as using a high ceiling to stack equipment upwards.
Get the layout right before opening. Once suppliers, customers and staff are coming through the doors, there is little time or energy for reconfiguring the space, and changing it later costs far more. In an open kitchen where diners can watch the chefs, the look of the equipment matters almost as much as how well it works.
Whatever the size of the room, cutlery and crockery must be spotless, so choose warewashing that fits the space. Think too about how often produce arrives and where it will be kept. Multi-purpose pieces help here, such as a preparation table with a chiller built in underneath.