KITCHEN LAYOUT & DESIGN

It is important to ensure that the cooking space is designed scientifically to achieve maximum
productivity and to attain this objective the kitchen, where the all important food is prepared and
upon which all the revenue hinges, has to be properly designed and proper layout can provide
efficient return.

Kitchen planning must not be dictated by traditional thinking and pre-conceived notions of
systems or organizations should give way to a clinical approach. Old style production has in
some cases been replaced by new systems including ‘cook freeze’ or ‘cook chill’. Industrial and
institutional caterers seek to reduce equipment, commodities and method.

The term ‘layout’ means positioning of work centres and their arrangement with respect to
equipment and services like drainage, fuel supply etc in the kitchen. Following four areas need to
be looked into for proper planning of layout:-

Management or administration of kitchens: The manager must possess the ability to view a
kitchen in terms of its functional efficiency, as far as meeting the objective of the catering
establishment. He may not be a specialist, but as an administrator he should be able to identify
resources and constraints or limiting factors, and to make policy and other strategic decisions.

Operation: The food service manager must play an active role in the planning of layouts, as the
direction of the food preparation and service activities within the layout are solely their
responsibility.

Architecture: The expertise of an architect is vital to kitchen planning regarding construction

features, timing of contracts and desirable building materials, in terms of providing the facility
with structures and equipment that conform to prevailing standards laid down for the safety of
users.

Interaction: Present trends in kitchen layout are designed to lead a closer contact between actual
points of food service and customers. This stimulates demand for quicker cooking appliances and
conversely render some hot food holding equipment or hot storage redundant.

Basis of Physical Layout

The following factors must be considered when a catering establishment is planning a kitchen in
the project stage. As we know that a kitchen plan or layout should be determined by the catering
policy, even though a plan may often be limited by space available.
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The factors which can affect the layout plan are:-

1. Type of business
2. Type of customers
3. Possibility of expansions
4. Seasonal pressures
5. Number of covers (guests) to be offered
6. Cover turnover
7. Type of meal
8. Timings of meals (lunch or dinner service, or day
service)
9. Facilities of equipment in still room
10. Floor space
11. To what extent will ‘convenience’ foods be used?
12. Is allowance to be made for special functions?
13. Type of service proposed- self- service, cafeteria, waiter
or waitress service)
14. Position of windows, ventilation, drainage, water
service etc.

Area Required

Many elements make calculating kitchen areas controversial and even experts differ. Kitchen
areas vary according to the type and number of meals provided. At the same time, information
about the number alone is not sufficient to plan a kitchen or to calculate its area. Knowledge of
peak load is essential and this must be either based on experience, or intelligent forecasting, in
case of new establishment. Under certain circumstances, hotel and restaurant kitchens have been
as much as 40% of total restaurant area.

There are no hard and fast rules for calculating kitchen areas or space. However, as a suggestion
‘rule of thumb’ is 0.56 sq. m or 06 sq. ft of floor area per person should be accommodated in the
dinning room at the planning stage. This figure is arrived at by assuming that 50 per cent of the
area allowed in assessing the size of the dinning room is 1.10sq.m (or 12sq.ft.) per person, which
includes tables, passageways, etc. For example, if the floor area of the restaurant is 2000 sq.ft.
then kitchen space should be approximately 1000 sq.ft.

However, no firm rules as to area can thus be given, while a rough idea about the kitchen space
normally required can be had from the following tables 1, 2 and 3. Those are for broad guidance
only.
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Table 1: Approximate indication of kitchen requirements

No. of Eating Members during Business Hours Kitchen Area Desirable per Person (in sq.ft.)

100 5–9
100 - 250 4–6
250 - 500 4–5
500 – 1000 3–4
Over 1000 2.5 – 3

Note: Area reduction may be made when convenience foods (frozen) are fully exploited. The
lower figures relate to such simpler operations while the higher for complete catering.

Table 2 : Possible Area ( in sq. ft) on a Daily Basis of Catering Capacity

Total Meals per Day Restaurant Area Kitchen Area Total Catering Floor Space

100 375 150 525

250 560 215 775
500 950 300 1250
1000 1500 500 2000

Table 3 : Possible Area ( in sq.ft.) on a Daily Basis of Seating Capacity

Seating Capacity Restaurant Area Kitchen Area Estimated Possible No.

Of Meals Per Hour

50 700 300 75
75 1000 400 115
100 1250 500 150
125 1750 750 190
200 2750 1200 300

Out of a hotel kitchen area anything between 15 and 25 per cent may be required for storage
depending upon the nature of operations and its form of supplies. The remaining space can be
devoted to food preparation, cooking and serving. In case of catering area, initial planning is not
the concern of a single person, but involves a project team or committee which includes the

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Chefs, hotelier and restaurateur. Their views have to be reconciled with site limitations and other
members of the team such as consultants, kitchen engineer, all of whose activities are
coordinated by the architect.

Flow of Work

A perfect kitchen is one in which the raw and cooked materials have minimum movement and
only cover the same route once. When it is properly planned, they must be linked to comply as
nearly as possible to the work flow as illustrated below:-
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A well planned layout largely depends on the following requirements which if properly provided
for, establish good basic kitchen conditions:-

1. Incoming supplies and raw

materials (checking and weighing)
2. Food storage
3. Cooking
4. Server arrangements
5. Pan wash arrangements
6. Crockery and cutlery wash up

To obtain a continuous flow of goods section to section as illustrated, the design of each section
must be considered carefully to ensure that paths do not cross and the staff do not back-track
more than necessary.

Key Steps for Designing a Kitchen

The following are the main steps involved in designing a good kitchen:-

1. Determine a basic menu

design or pattern.
2. Estimate menu items as per
demand.
3. Consider food purchase
policies.
4. Ascertain the size, number
and type of equipment needed to process the menu style.
5. From the specification of the
equipment compute the amount of space required.
6. Determine the equipment
layout according to food flow and frequency of use.
7. Determine the peak food
purchasing requirement.
8. Calculate and allocate floor
space for refrigeration and dry store purposes.
 9. Estimate the dinning room
space by analyzing the peak patron loads and average seat turnover during these periods.
10. Allocate service area space
within the kitchen by considering menu, peak load requirements, patron’s needs and type
of service offered.
11. Determine the number of
employees needed and their distribution from study of hours of operation and peak
production, and serving requirements.
12. Calculate the amount of space
needed for work and traffic aisles by studying equipment layout and employee duties.

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Configurations of Commercial Kitchens

Depending on the availability of space the shapes of kitchens vary from square, rectangular, U-
shaped, L-shaped, parallel to a single or straight line with dimensions varying according to the
need of particular catering establishments. Details of such kitchens are given below:-

Square Kitchen: (Fig 1) This shape is not very common as the amount of area in the centre is
more and it requires much walking to reach from one wall to another. It is also difficult to use the
central space effectively except for an aisle or for odd jobs. All plumbing, electricity and gas
connections are best brought to wall ends rather than have the pipe and drains under the floors in
the centre of the kitchen.

Rectangular Kitchen: (Fig 2) This is a very common shape and is generally used in
establishments where a lot activity takes place for most of the day. This shape is very common in
hospitals, large restaurants and central kitchens.
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U-shaped Kitchen: (Fig 3) This is one of the most efficient types. Doors are located at the end of
the ‘U’ and the cooking/working area along the three sides of the room. The sink unit is placed in
the end wall or inside the ‘U’, with a window over it. There is no chance of crisscrossing.

L-shaped Kitchen: (Fig 4) This makes use of two adjoining walls at right angles. It is efficient
design where floor space is limited. In figure arrangement has been shown for refrigerator, sink
and cooking unit. It is very useful for small canteens, kiosks and tea and coffee shops.
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Parallel Kitchen: (Fig 5) In this type, the sides of passages may be utilized while the central
space acts as an aisle. ‘AA’ shows tables which go into the walls when the service is not open.
‘BB’ indicates extendable counters opening into the passage during service hours. This type is
best suited for self service and for midday meals in schools.

Straight Line Kitchen: (Fig 6) Sometimes it is called I-shaped kitchen. The extra storage is
created on walls or under sinks in cabinets. It is useful in kiosks, tea shops or mobile vending
units.
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Combined Shaped Kitchens: (Fig 7) Any of the above shapes can be combined and a different
shape can be emerged during the process of expansion or renovation of catering facilities.
Environmental Conditions

The following points should generally be considered as contributors to making the working
conditions or the environment of the kitchen comfortable and convenient to work in :-

 Performance
 Lighting
 Colour
 Temperature and Humidity