Dining Facility

Following the renovation of their Information Commons, Greenhills School undertook the renovation of their cafeteria, kitchen, and servery. There were two primary goals for this project. Improve the quality of food being served to students and create a welcoming eating environment that would be able to support other functions throughout the day. To achieve the first goal, the original 480 sq.ft. kitchen and servery nearly quadrupled in size to occupy 1,740 sq. ft. The school administration also brought on Plum Market to become the food service provider that operates their kitchen. While it was their task to create a completely revamped menu, our team developed the layout and selected finishes for the kitchen and servery to create a more open, high-end look to match the quality of the new food. An open kitchen concept is not just a more efficient layout, students get to see the food prep in action putting their new healthier choices on display. A wood ceiling element within the cafeteria extends into the kitchen demarcating the servery space which acts as a visual cue to draw students in.

The existing cafeteria was a rigidly efficient layout of rows and rows of matching standard issue cafeteria tables. While it succeeded in accommodating a large number of students, it didn’t create the welcoming environment that was desired. A variety of different types of seats were deployed throughout the cafeteria including communal high-top tables, banquettes, and booths. Achieving the goal of creating the types of welcoming seating that could be used outside of lunch periods did come at a cost. The new layout didn’t house as many students as it did before. To address this, 9 built-in booths were developed in the adjacent auditorium gallery. This created more than just a new space for students to eat. The dry-erase wall coverings and power outlets within each booth guaranteed these spaces would be popular destinations throughout the entire day.