Case Study: Comprehensive Design for Career Center cafeteria
Project: Complete cafeteria renovation
The client
One of central Ohio’s premier career centers offering in-demand, traditional and technical career programs.
The challenge
To better attract, serve and motivate students and faculty, the career center facility underwent a complete remodeling project to modernize the aesthetic and function of its building. The goal of the superintendent was to achieve visually and functionally stimulating environments through bold new architecture and equipment design. As part of this multi-step process, the existing cafeteria was redone to incorporate stations that serve a variety of food options; as well as to allow the room to serve as a multipurpose area. S&G was brought in and tasked with fully renovating the cafeteria.
This posed a number of challenges:
- To fit all of the equipment required into a very limited space
- To design, engineer and build equipment that was consistent with the overall architectural style — odd angles and bold lines — while maximizing functionality and keeping the orderly flow of students through the cafeteria.
- To make the overall appearance of the equipment “one of a kind” — using many different materials that S&G does not use on a daily basis.
The S&G solution
S&G began not with the equipment, but by modifying the original architectural design of the cafeteria to give the space a more “free flowing” layout, which kept the queuing line in order and fit the space limitations required. Using materials such as stainless steel, glass, plastic, metal laminates and wood, the team then designed a cafeteria that perfectly satisfied both form and function. And given the complexities of design, material specifications and limited timeframe, where other companies would have needed to outsource many aspects of the project, S&G’s One Source ability delivered a completed project with minimal installation time required. We also decreased the final cost to the customer.
The result
The new cafeteria has received extremely positive response and played an integral part in accomplishing the school’s main strategic business objectives — giving their students the same pride in their school as more upscale schools in the area, and increasing enrollment. Further, based on their satisfaction with our work on the cafeteria, the career center turned to S&G for total equipment design, manufacturing and installation solutions in other areas of the institution, including the School of Cosmetology, Retail Store, the Welding Department, and the Culinary School.