Decisions, Decisions: Insights into Interior Design

Ann Friedland

Whether a new hospital addition, college student union, high school or office complex, major building projects are initiated and planned by administrators and executives all the time. Although an efficiently-running foodservice is always expected when such projects are completed, the amount of input from and involvement of dining services directors in early stages of the planning process can vary widely.

Some operators are involved in making significant decisions from the beginning; others are asked for their suggestions on kitchen equipment or layout alone, but are not included on the architect-controlled design committees that designate finishes, lighting fixtures, furniture and decor.

In some cases, critical FSD input early in the process can help an organization ensure that foodservice space is efficient, practical and marketable. In other cases, foodservices can be handed an undersized, hard-to-utilize space that will forever entail unnecessary operating costs and preclude badly needed revenue opportunities.

Making the Case

Why do such disparities exist? In many cases, they are dictated by the scope of the development itself. When a stand-alone café renovation is at issue, directors often enjoy exclusive or significant say-so; there may not even be a separate interior designer for the project, with a foodservice consultant and FSD choosing from among available finishes and materials themselves. The trickiest situations usually occur when a café is just a minor element in an extensive, facility-wide construction venture.

“In large projects, such as a new hospital, the foodservice portion is very small—perhaps $10 million out of a $300 million budget,” observes Paul Hysen, foodservice consultant and principle of the Northville, Michiganbased Hysen Group.

“The architect for the project may say, ‘We have an interiors department and can do the foodservice part, too.’ But the materials are different; the feeling is different. You don’t want a dining area to end up looking like an office, and it’s important to have someone on the team who understands and has experience in the retail sales environment. The director should definitely be part of the decision making process, and might have to fight for that right; but it’s crucial to do so.”

Words of wisdom from directors who’ve lived through revamps themselves, as well as consultants and designers specializing in foodservice, resoundingly echo the same advice: directors need to get involved at the beginning and stay involved. But how to go about insisting on that?

For starters, Hysen suggests finding out about a given architect’s experience with foodservice interiors. If it’s possible to get in on the architect selection in the first place, that’s ideal; if not, ask some questions before any planning takes place for the dining area:

If the project-wide architect has designers on staff who are well-versed in foodservice, that’s a great boon. If not, directors should consider negotiating for a separate designer who specializes in foodservice interiors.

There are hopeful signs that make the latter decision more likely these days. Tales of the problems that can result when an institution fails to make educated foodservice design decisions abound and can be shared with administrators during the initial planning phases of a project (see more about that below).

As Ron Kooser, president and COO of Cini-Little International, notes, “More of our primary clients are now the institutions themselves. Sometimes we’re being brought in first, before the architect; in the past, the architect usually hired the consultant.” Kooser says it is also more common today for his firm “to work on a team with the FSD and a designer so we have a look and concept pre-determined before an architect is brought into the picture.”

“Lots of architects want to make everything out of stainless steel; we’ve been fighting for 40 years to get rid of stainless steel! The design team needs to understand that you’re responding to real customers. You have to determine and provide what those customers want.”

Deon Lategan, director of residential dining services at Colorado State University, has worked through several renovation projects at various universities and says he has “learned the hard way” to insist on having a project’s foodservice consultant take on responsibility for the interior design (either through its own company, or by hiring an independent designer).

“There can be a large disconnect between foodservice interiors planned in this way and those planned by architects,” he says, pointing to a “bareness” and lack of merchandising detail after renovations at dining facilities in some of his past positions. “Our goal was always to have our sites look like bustling, retail marketplaces.”

Colorado State is now in the final stages of building a $7 million residential facility that will seat 700 and offer a variety of menu choices. Lategan contracted with foodservice consulting firm Ricca Newmark Design in Denver on that project and it will feature food-themed wall art, murals, decorative items and even a whimsical sculpture created by a local artist out of bent and unusable flatware the staff used to throw away. The result is a festive, retail environment well suited to sales and merchandising, Lategan says.

Providing Input

Designers that have plenty of foodservice experience recognize the importance of an onsite directors’ ideas and typically will welcome them as valuable contributors to a design committee.

Kathy Diamond-Ulepic, owner of Kathy Diamond Design Associates in Scottsdale, AZ, suggests that “directors should peruse trade magazines, tear out pictures, talk to and visit peers who’ve recently completed new foodservice projects.

“They should develop their own ideas about looks and concepts they like and functional needs they have. They should be prepared to present these as idea-starters at the initial meeting. Our response would typically be to take those as starting points and come to the second meeting with three or four different schemes to present.”

Diamond-Ulepic, whose firm specializes in foodservice and retail design, says it’s important for the designer to listen to what a director has to say. “You want to avoid a situation where a designer just announces, ‘here’s what we’re going to do,’” she says. “After all, the foodservice directors are the ones who will have to use and take care of the space. If they don’t have a sense of ownership, things often won’t work out well.”

She also notes that in preparing an overall plan for a facility, an architect’s general designer “may not understand the issues that are specific to food preparation and serving, grease buildup on floor areas, and traffic flows from kitchen areas to the front of the house. Seating has very specific requirements, for example. Typically, there’s very high usage as well as a great variety of body types going into the chairs; it’s not the same as an individual sitting at a desk. You don’t select the chairs from an office furniture catalog.”

After insisting on and securing a seat on the design committee, directors need to make sure they go to every single meeting, or at least send a top associate if they’re unable to make it.

Susan Barraclough, director of food & nutrition services at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, commiserates with time-strapped operators, but adds, “At first, you may think you’ve got a designer and consultant hired to do the work; you’re busy, so why should you bother with every meeting?”

Barraclaugh, who has been through several renovations including several recent revamps at Mass General, believes “it’s crucial you remain very involved and have an ongoing ‘heads up’ about everything that goes on. Don’t be shy about asking questions. You’re the expert when it comes to your foodservice facility.”

Dexter Hancock, MHA, RD, director of nutritional services at DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa, AL, concurs. “You may think you don’t need to go to the meeting where they’re scheduled to talk about when the concrete will be poured. But significant decisions can be made at any meeting, even if one has to do with a topic that isn’t on the agenda. That could be the very meeting where decisions are made about cutting money from your part of the budget. You’ve got to be there to protect your interests.”

Walking the Talk

Barraclough advocates numerous walkthroughs and visualization sessions with the designer and consultant over the course the renovation process. “Also, don’t neglect to review every document they send you. It may seem like a maze at first—but you may be the one who catches a significant oversight.”

Even with a foodservice specialist team, some things can slip through that only a the director could foresee, she notes. For instance, the accent lighting above her new salad bar was designed by engineers, but it turned out to be in the wrong place, once new positioning was established for the signage. “Until we walked through the physical layout with the plans, we would never have caught that,” she says.

As another example, she says that a “walkthrough” evaluation of ongoing plans for a new soup and salad bar led her group to decide to separate the two in the new design.

“We had originally planned to combine them, just as they had been before. But we suddenly realized we could go with a Corian countertop for the salad bar if a hot area didn’t need to be there for the soup. The money saved from that decision ended up covering the cost of a separate soup station.”

Hancock cautions about accepting suggestions for cost cutting from project construction personnel. “They may push to use cheaper materials. That might be okay if it’s a very small setting; but in a high-volume facility you need quality materials such as glazed tile for the walls and carpeting that is suitable for high volume use.

“Ask to see the manufacturer’s certificate to make sure carpet is suitable for your volume requirements and make sure all furniture finishes are easily cleanable. Even small details matter. We didn’t opt for a more expensive choice of wheel casters on the chairs, but it’s something to think about in terms of eventual wear and tear on the carpet.”

Kathy Gianquitti, R.D., L.D., administrator of foodservices at the University of Rhode Island in Providence, assisted in selecting the architect and foodservice consultant for the new Hope Commons that recently opened on campus and enjoyed a good, team-oriented working relationship with them. Still, she notes the importance of keeping on top of every design décor decision.

She asked to see pictures of every single light fixture, and ended up rejecting several that were too ‘out there.’ A plan for a decorative ledge on the wall two stories high was excluded when a member of the staff advisory board she’d formed commented on how hard it would be to clean. “And I insisted on as few variances in the type of light bulbs to be used as possible. We wanted to keep the stock down and not have to source obscure lamp types.”

A four-sided gas fireplace – an idea submitted by a student from a focus group Gianquitti conducted before hiring the architect – almost got “lined out” of the budget, but Gianquitti prevailed. It’s the centerpiece of the new Rhody Market retail spot in the commons, surrounded by soft seating with wireless internet access. Students flock to it, and faculty can reserve a spot for office hours with students, where they’ll be treated to a free beverage and a tray of cookies.

Lessons Learned

Although Kathy Zieja, director of residence and dining services at Massachusetts’s Smith College, had a distinct feeling that the brushed velour fabric that the architectural firm was planning for the booths at her new student center might not be entirely suitable for a high usage college venue that’s open 16 to 17 hours a day, she was assured that testing had been done and it would be fine.

“Actually, the material turned out not to be maintenance friendly, and at the end of three years, we had to replace 14 booths and banquettes,” she says.

Before replacing the fabric, however, Zieja brought in sample furniture covered in a manmade leather-like product that’s “easily wiped off and environmentally friendly,” and set it up for a month-long test before committing to the purchase.

In another clash of architect and foodservice mindsets, the design plan called for clean lines and a spare look, which meant no signage. “We knew we needed signs, and as it turned out, customers were confused without them. So we added some aesthetically pleasing signage later,” Zieja says. “Cleaner lines were also designed into the cashier area, and we modified the original plan to give us a double-sided cashier station.”

Anticipating breakage of the customized lighting fixtures in the espresso bar area, Zieja requested and received two extra back-up pieces to have on hand.

Catherine Boucher, RD, manager for food & nutrition services at Martha Jefferson Hospital in Charlottesville, VA, will not get to move into her beautiful, fourth floor level café with sweeping views of the Blue Ridge Mountains until 2012. That’s when the replacement hospital will be completed, but she’s already deeply involved with the architectural team to ensure that the look and feel of the new space will translate into a “complete escape.”

She’s testing out patches of heavy duty, cleanable wallpaper now in her current servery, and has already determined that, due to the ever-increasing number of electronic gadgets hospital doctors and personnel have attached to their belts these days, the new booth seating will need to have a gap in the cushions, to avoid tearing of the fabric as those customers slide into booths.

There’s no question that the required attention to detail and consistent involvement with interior design issues of a construction project takes considerable extra effort from already-burdened directors.

“It seems like it’s years of time,” says Gianquitti. “But if you get the results you want, it’s worth it.”