5 design principles for commercial kitchens

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Commercial kitchens can be dangerous and extremely inefficient areas if they are not designed correctly. This is why it is important to engage the right professionals when you are designing, renovating or re-fitting kitchens in commercial properties.

To avoid undue problems in your kitchen, the least of which is delays in service, here are 5 design principles that you need to be aware of when you are fitting out commercial kitchens.

1. The size of your kitchen: There is a rule of thumb that you need approximately 0.5 square metres for every seat in your restaurant or cafe. This means that if you have seating for 150 people, you need a minimum space of 70 square metres in commercial kitchens.

2. The flow of your kitchen: Prepared meals should exit one area of your kitchen and used dishes enter via another area. Equally, the refrigeration and dry storage areas need to be close to the delivery areas and easily accessed via the main preparation areas.

3. Flexibility: If your menu changes or new chefs come and go, the design of commercial kitchens needs to be flexible enough to accommodate these changes. This lends itself more to simple, uncluttered kitchens with plenty of bench and preparation areas that can be co-opted as your needs change.

4. Health and safety: All commercial kitchens must adhere to regulations regarding the health and safety of employees and customers. This is vital to the success of your business and involves the types of materials you can and cannot use in commercial kitchens, as well as the safe storage of food, both cooked and uncooked.

5. Ergonomics: More and more we see commercial kitchens that are designed with ergonomics in mind, because this gives your employees a more comfortable working environment and increases the efficiency of your kitchen.

If you are struggling for space in your kitchen, with shelves that are too high, food preparation areas that are too small and staff that keep bumping into one another, the safety of your staff and the success of your kitchen will suffer. Call Jeb Built on 0431 065 019 – professional contractors, specialising in fit outs for commercial kitchens.