SHEET 1
HOW TO DESIGN A COMMERCIAL KITCHEN
KITCHEN TYPE
Types Of Kitchens
The first step in deciding on the size, space and location of your new commercial
kitchen is to look at the type of kitchen you need.
The type of food you are producing, the place where the food will be served, how
the food will be served and the style of service you wish to achieve.
There are 7 main types of service that will dictate the kitchen layout and location.
Cafe, Restaurant And Bistro
A cafe restaurant or bistro kitchen requires efficient use of space as space is of a
premium as the business is usually in a densely populated area, rents are often high,
and the operator prefers seating space to kitchen space to maximise profit.
The kitchen will usually require a large cooking bank, storage area, prep area,
combined pot wash and dishwash area, waste and bin wash areas.
The operator will decide what items will be bought in and what items will be made
“in house” based on the style and clientele.
These kitchens tend to be open plan so customers can see the activity of the chefs,
adding to the theatre of the dining experience. Even fine dining restaurants now
have at least some snapshop of the chefs preparing meals.
Takeaway
Takeaway outlets have most of the same ingredients as the cafe, restaurant and
bistro kitchen, but are often smaller and don’t always require a dishwashing function
as food is served in disposable containers, or crockery washing is managed in a
central location as in some food courts.
Hospitality Design © 2012
www.hospitalitydesgin.com.au [email protected]
6/74 Keys Rd Cheltenham Vic 3192 613 9555 0076
Page 1
How To Design A Commercial Kitchen
Large Accommodation Hotels And Resorts
Hotels and resorts will require large kitchens with areas open 24 hours a day often
with separate areas for larder, patisserie, and banqueting.
Dispense bars may be closed from view, as are the kitchens themselves.
Access is required for trolleys into and out of the kitchen, including room service
trolleys, banquet service carts, satellite kitchen service carts in addition to general
high volume trolleys for moving raw and finished food around the kitchen. Large
walkways and access areas are essential for wheeling of trolleys and for fire egress.
Large storage areas, bin wash, and conveyor dishwash areas along with specialised
pot washing equipment are key features of a hotel kitchen.
The main hotel kitchen often supports a separate bistro kitchen for individual
restaurants on the hotel site.
Hospitals
A hospital kitchen has most of the features of the hotel kitchen, however the volume
of meals are often greater.
Hospital kitchens are often located in a basement, aiding goods delivery from a
loading dock and as recycling and waste removal is a key feature of the hospital
kitchen, proximity to disposal systems is paramount.
The equipment is based around volume, so large stock pots and combination
steamer ovens are commonplace.
Meals are assembled along conveyors and trayed up for delivery to the ward.
A totally separate space often a separate room is allocated to stripping trays after
their return from the ward. Conveyors are used to strip trays, sorting takes place and
a conveyor dishwasher either rack conveyor or peg conveyor dishwasher will pre
rinse, wash, final rinse and result in clean dry plates ready for transporting to crockery
and cutlery storage areas.
The pot wash function is also separate with specially heated soak sinks and utensil
washers designed to deal with volume pots and pans.
Hospitality Design 2012 ©
6/74 Keys Rd Cheltenham Victoria 3192
613 9555 0076
How To Design A Commercial Kitchen
Aged Care & Retirement Villages
Kitchens producing ford for aged care are similar to hospital kitchens, however the
volume is usually much lower. Aged care facilities range from 60 to up to 200
residents.
The key factors in determining space for an aged care kitchen is based on the
mobility of the resident, and the location of the dining area in relation to the food
production area.
An aged care facility may be designed over more than one level, it may have more
than one dining area and often has more than one servery kitchen or satellite
kitchen where food is “plated up” an sometimes washed. Some facilities may have
some residents dining in their own rooms as in hospital meal service.
The Facility may offer Extra services accommodation (ESS) which can offer a resident
a different quality of service or individual living units (ILU).
Aged care facilities such as nursing homes will differ from retirement villages as the
mobility of the resident is greater. Often the nursing home with be attached to a
retirement village.
A retirement village will usually have a community centre with a kitchen and
adjacent dining area will be operated by a cater on a as required basis, or in larger
villages a full bistro kitchen with a bar may be provided. The larger operation is
essentially the same as a bistro kitchen detailed above.
Production Kitchen
A production kitchen may be required to produce food for retail sale or as a bulk
producer of meals provided in bulk for satellite kitchens that may be kilometres
away, or for consumption in transit, such as airlines. The advantage of a production
kitchen is that it would normally be located where rent per square metre is lower, this
enables wide walkways, large storage areas with an emphasis on access to in and
out of the kitchen via a loading dock, and access to a road network to the target
market.
Training And Rental kitchens
Hospitality Design 2012 ©
6/74 Keys Rd Cheltenham Victoria 3192
613 9555 0076
How To Design A Commercial Kitchen
The development of training kitchens used for the training of hospitality students has
been through staggering growth as the demand for chefs and bar staff has
outstripped supply.
Facilities of this type require a ratio of certain equipment per student, so experience
is gained on equipment that the student will use in their day to day work.
A large space is required here with an emphasis on equipment and space for the
student work area is limited.
Hospitality Design require a full brief from the client to determine factors such as
hours of operation, number of students, requirement for a bar, storage needs and if
a restaurant is to be attached.
Rental kitchens have the features of a production kitchen and some features of the
training kitchen. Often a small dining room may be attached so a small dish-wash
function would be included, again good access to goods in and out is essential.
This information sheet is designed to assist new or existing food operators and hospitality students in understanding the basic
commercial kitchen design fundamentals.
Commercial kitchens are a complex and specialised field that cross paths with building regulations, Gas and electrical safety, health
regulations and many Australian standards. All councils are operated independently and therefore may have slightly different
interpretations of health law and have local characteristics that will require different construction and design.
The information contained herein is a guide only Hospitality Design recommends you seek the services of a qualified commercial
kitchen consultant before embarking on your new kitchen or renovation.
Hospitality Design are a well recognised commercial kitchen contractor who can provide a full package from concept and design
to handover and supply a large range of appliances even individual appliances for updating your kitchen.
Hospitality Design 2012 ©
6/74 Keys Rd Cheltenham Victoria 3192
613 9555 0076