Everyone Wants a Piece
Providing and Clarifying Critical Dimensions
Within the footprint of your restaurant, everyone is vying for space. Front of the house versus back of the house, mechanical and electrical space requirements, all the spaces outlined in your Design Program – office, employee area, receiving, storage, etc. need to fit and function effectively. It is a constant game of pushing and shoving to satisfy all these competing yet complimentary spaces, since they are all necessary for your restaurant to function effectively.
This is why developing a comprehensive Design Program is essential. Everyone on the design team needs to know what spaces are required and the area they need.
The schematic design will present the initial pass at how these pieces fit together and if you are trying to fit 10 pounds in a five-pound bag. Efficient space planning is key. Wasted space, excess aisle space, single loaded corridors, all need to be reviewed and refined.
Engineers like rooms for their mechanical and electrical equipment, and code dictates required clearances for electrical panels and mechanical systems. Keeping these to the minimum or taking advantage of corridors for electrical panels often saves valuable space. If possible, accessing mechanical or electrical rooms from doors on the exterior of the building or tenant space eliminates the need for interior corridor space.
Consider vertical space. Oftentimes, some mechanical systems – water heater, water filter, air handlers – can be located on mezzanines or above toilet rooms with access through drop down ladders or access panels. If you have high ceilings, some wall mounted controls can be mounted high on walls or even above the finished ceiling (code permitting) so that critical wall shelf space is not compromised.
Corridors, work aisles in kitchens and bars and storage room dimensions all need to be reviewed with the operator. Kitchen work space requirements vary. Some chefs/operators like tight (30”-36”) work aisles, while others prefer room for staff to pass (42”-48”). Dry storage and walk-in cooler storage space is often determined by the preferred shelving depth (12”, 18”, 24”) with a 36” work aisle. Learn their requirements before making assumptions.
Critical dimensions also affect wall lengths and heights. Exhaust hood lengths are determined by the required equipment and clearances. If hoods are wall to wall, the overall wall length is critical. If they are not the full length of the wall, the location from the end of the wall is critical and needs to be indicated on the drawings. Your kitchen drawings and specifications should show the required length of hood walls and location of hoods if they do not extend the full length. Space is typically required between appliances to move them out for cleaning. This space must be accounted for in determining the overall hood length. Hood manufacturers consider this when they provide their shop drawings. But it is always a good idea to verify!
Interior bar dimensions are similarly determined by the underbar equipment. The depth of underbar equipment varies depending on models, added single or double speed rails, refrigeration, glass washing equipment or specialty equipment. Many of these critical dimensions are communicated to the architect by the food service consultant/designer. If not, they need to be confirmed based on the proposed equipment plan and equipment specifications.
One of the most overlooked dimensions are the height of knee walls (die walls) that occur at chef lines, beverage counters and bars. The bar tops and counter tops for these areas are often provided and installed by the millwork sub-contractor while the die wall is framed by the general contractor. Since the finished height of these counters and bar tops must be exact, the construction of the counter/bar top – materials and thickness – needs to be coordinated to ensure that the correct finished height is maintained.
Dimensions communicated to the architect should be noted as “finished” dimensions. This will account for the wall construction detail - substrate materials and all finishes. Critical dimensions for kitchen and bar equipment are “inside clear” or “overall length” when fitting equipment. Many architects dimension wall locations either to wall centerline or to framing. When you are reviewing their drawings for your critical dimensions you will need to adjust accordingly and verify framing sizes and finishes.
Field conditions may alter some of these dimensions. It is the responsibility of your architect and project manager to monitor these issues and resolve these conflicts.
The battle of revenue producing versus non-revenue producing space is often counterproductive since the entire restaurant must operate effectively. Get your design team to work together to design an efficient space.
