BRINGING VARIETY, EFFICIENCY AND COMMUNITY TO EMPLOYEE DINING SERVICES
Location:
Oak Brook, IL
New spaces bring new opportunities, as this office building found with its move to Oak Brook, Ill. The building included a large open space on the basement floor, complete with a ping pong table and comfortable seating. It turned out to be the perfect place for the office’s dining service, to bring a real sense of community to the workplace.
“We’re still seeing companies bringing people back into the office after working from home during the COVID pandemic,” says Dan MacNamara, senior project manager, Clune Construction. “Our customer wanted to create a gathering space for the employees, with good food and a welcoming environment.”
The new area had more space to work with than the previous location, which the Boelter team took advantage of in creating the design. The new foodservice operation includes a full kitchen with a dishroom, a serving area with five separate stations, and a full coffee bar. “Having more space helped us revamp the stations, bringing in new equipment, which gives us the ability to offer more variety,” says Rebecca Haney, general manager, Compass Group.
Stationed for Success
Food is cooked and made to order for customers right in front of them at five stations: pizza, grill, deli, salad bar, and action/entrée. The equipment at each provides the ability for more variety and an improved experience in this new location for employees as well as the staff. Some of the highlights include:
- The Pizza Oven. The centerpiece of the new dining facilities is the pizza oven. The black and red tile work make a statement as soon as you enter. The experience of the Boelter team was crucial in getting this oven installed with its hood, using some design ingenuity to run the ductwork in an area that was under the parking lot of the building.
- Deli Merchandiser. An RPI deli case brings efficiency and versatility to the sandwich station. The unit includes a display case where they can merchandise pre-made sandwiches and salads, or put in the deli meat and cheese for people to see the products that will make up their meals. What’s unique about this equipment is the cutting board on the backside with two cold wells. “The benefit of this type of equipment is you can take the pre-made sandwiches and finish them with sauces or other toppings, adding a fresh, made-to-order aspect,” says Jon Pointon, project manager, Boelter. “Or you could build the entire sandwich right on top of the unit in front of the customer.”
- Hot/Cold units. Versatility was an important goal for the kitchen design. Food wells that can flip from hot to cold at the action station allow that area to be set up for a parfait bar during breakfast service and switch to hot foods for lunch offerings. The same flexibility is found at the pizza station, where hot and cold plates allow different types of food to be served safely.
- Cold Storage. Each station was designed with plenty of refrigeration and cold storage, giving staff the ability to prep product for multiple meal services and keeping things running efficiently through the day. Pass-through refrigeration units allow the chef to prepare and load units from the back and staff can access it from the front for serving.
- Custom sneeze guards.The facility includes a custom sneeze guard designed specifically for this project. Goodloe worked directly with Premier Metal and Glass to create a sneeze guard with the ability to provide sanitary protection in cases where customers serve themselves, with hinges to fold the sneeze guard down for a service line. Coined “The Adam,” the new design provides benefits in cleaning as well. Where equipment is heavy and hard to move, the operator can come around to the serving side and fold the glass down to clean it. On the serving lines being able to clean from the customer-facing side means operators no longer have to reach over the counter or wait until equipment cools down before starting the cleaning process. The hinged equipment adds efficiency and improves ergonomics.
- Back of House Support. Flexibility and versatility were also priorities in the main kitchen. Two products from Rational, the iVario Pro and a combi-oven, both offer multiple types of cooking in one footprint. “These two pieces of equipment can do everything that we’re doing in the front, without taking up valuable space,” says Adam Goodloe, designer, Boelter. “The kitchen came with its own challenges, including the lack of space to run ductwork due to the building’s parking lot being located above the kitchen. We problem-solved by incorporating Hobart’s Ventless Dishmachine, says Jon Pointon.”
An Improved Ordering Experience
In addition to the food production, the Compass team helped design an ordering system that works well for busy professionals. Rather than having to wait in line to purchase food, people can place their order on an app, pay ahead, and just go down to pick it up. Boelter also designed an order station counter within the servery where people can order at a kiosk. Not having to staff a cashier station allows the foodservice team to use their staff on other tasks such as food prep and creating meals at the made-to-order stations.
Whether on the app or the kiosk, people can specify the time they want to pick up their order. The orders then come into the kitchen 10 minutes ahead of the scheduled time, and then are placed under heat lamps to await pick up.
Teamwork and Experience
This B&I project is just one example of how the Boelter team works together to give each client the best possible design and equipment. Pointon and Goodloe worked together to create a design that would work for the client, source equipment that was functional and versatile, and keep things running smoothly through construction and installation.
“It brought added efficiencies to the project having us work together,” Goodloe says. “We were in communication daily, and were able to work together to share ideas and find solutions to meet the client’s goals.”
Where many designers might have balked at the prospect of constructing a kitchen in a basement, Goodloe and Pointon took on the challenge with enthusiasm. Together, their years of experience within the foodservice equipment and design industry enabled them to come at the project with creativity and ingenuity.
Learn more about Adam Goodloe and Jon Pointon and their extensive project portfolios.