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HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
INTERIORS AND EXTERIORS
When considering the Guest's role in the design, we consider:
• Whether they can have their chairs at a comfortable distance
• Is there space for bags and luggage, space to man-oeuvre tables for larger parties and events.
• Is there a clear understanding of where the toilets are.
• Ease of access to communicate with waiters.
How to Calculate the Seating Capacity of a Restaurant?
If you're opening or redesigning a restaurant, you probably have a lot of questions like average restaurant square footage and how many seated diners can be served in such spaces?
Many factors must be considered, including type of restaurant and type of food served. A good starting point is knowing how to go about calculating occupant load for restaurants to determine if a space can hold enough diners to be profitable, while still allowing for comfort and safety.
Understanding Design Occupant Load
The design occupant load serves the primary purpose of determining the maximum number of people that can be in a room at one time and be able to escape safely in case of a fire. It's also used to determine the number of plumbing fixtures, fire sprinklers and fire alarms you need, according to an article in Building Code Trainer.
Analyzing Occupant Load
Chances are you've been a diner in a restaurant where, when sliding your chair back, you were annoyed by the crack of the chairs hitting and you still didn't have enough room to stand up. Whether or not the restaurant is keeping within building code limits, it's uncomfortable to dine in such packed environments.To avoid your customers' experience being a negative one, try calculating the occupant load for restaurants, which is different from that of theaters, museums and other venues. In fact, the occupant load is even different for varying types of restaurants.
For example, fast food restaurants could put diners side-by-side on stools to eat their sandwiches or burgers, but fine dining restaurants need to give customers more space for their entrees, bread plates, wine and water glasses and multiple types of flatware. Wait staff, too, need ample room to move around without elbowing customers in the head or dropping food in their laps.
Calculating Occupant Load for Restaurants
The average recommended space to allow for a full service restaurant is 12 to 15 square feet per person; for fine dining, allow 18 to 20 square feet per person.
While that may sound like a lot of room, remember that to determine square footage, you multiply length times width; so 20 square feet could be five feet between customers and four feet for each person's sitting and eating space, including all the extras on the table for fine dining. Also allow 18 inches between occupied chairs that back up to each other.
You can squeeze extra chairs around round tables, but square tables are convenient for pulling them together to serve a large group. They give examples on number of guests accommodated per square table size:
24" x 24" = 2
30" x 30" = up to 4
36" x 36" = 4
42" x 42" = 4-6
48" x 48" = 8
And for round tables:
24" round = 2
30" or 36" = 3-4
42" = 4-5
48" = 5-6
60" = 8-10
Also consider details like the size of table bases, to see how many pairs of legs can comfortably fit, and allow room for serving stations and walkways.
Important to learn:
We believe the waiter’s role in the design needs to compliment the guest’s role. This aspect of the design needs to be efficient. The design must consider the ease of access between the client and kitchen, are the tables easy to clear and set? Can the waiters see all the clients? Is it easy to sort payments?
We firmly believe that if the food arrives cold, or if people cannot get a drink, then the restaurant has failed to meet its primary function, having detrimental effects on the business.
Generally, a successful layout design should follow a 20 square foot per person rule. However, for a fast-food restaurant, this must be halved.
The trick to a strong design for a fast-food restaurant is the opposite to that of a dining restaurant. In a dining restaurant, you want them to be comfortable and stay longer in order to spend more money. The longer they stay, the more likely they are to order another glass of wine, or order more nibbles or a dessert. For Fast-food restaurants, you definitely do not want them to get comfortable. You want them in and out as quickly as possible for a fast turnaround.
Every restaurant should strive for minimal foot traffic. We will make sure that waiter stations and maître’s desks, are in the spots with the least traffic. You want to create a smooth flowing and relaxed environment. Putting them in areas with high traffic will cause tension and stress. They should never be near restrooms for hygiene reasons, the best location is close to the kitchen out the way of customer site. Meaning that there will be minimal interruption, with an easy flow inside and quick service. Making pathways narrow and windy will not aid this.
We will make sure you strike the best first impression, all the way through the design, down to hitting the right tempo of music. The music you choose will influence how long people stay, their mood, how quickly they eat/drink, the type of conversation they have etc. Slow tempo will elongate people’s stays, by incorporating this with luxurious comfortable seating, with pleasant low and warm tones, dark lighting and plush finishes, you can ensure your consumers will sit comfortable for longer.
With lighting being one of the largest and most powerful aspects of a design. Getting this right can make or reak a venue.
Spacedeck can achieve the perfect lighting balance. You do not want people squinting to order food, or spilling stuff because it is not visibly clear. We will make sure you meet the mood, with high-end standards striking the right balance.
We take all of this into account and more when we design your venue. Get in touch with us to discuss your dream project.
FEEL FREE TO DISCUSS YOUR PROJECT REQUIREMENT WITH US AT 8929804760
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