For many students, the dining hall is their first experience with campus life. It’s also where they will spend a lot of time during their academic career. Your school’s dining hall must reflect your institution's unique culture and spirit. Additionally, a practical and well-designed dining facility can be essential to onboarding, programming, and other activities related to a student’s success. At the same time, creating a comfortable and inviting space that reflects the character of your school isn’t easy. To help get you started on this critical project, we have put together some advice on designing a modern dining hall. This guide covers everything from initial considerations to final details.
What is your goal behind redesigning the dining hall?
The first and most crucial step in designing a modern dining hall is to determine the goal of your redesign. It will help you create a roadmap for the project, guiding all decision-making along the way and, for example, determining the types of spaces or features in your dining facility. To create a space that inspires social connection, you’ll want to consider elements like natural light, ample seating, opportunities for human contact, etc.
Assessing current conditions
Before you start to dream about what your new dining hall might look like, you must first get a sense of your current condition. It includes taking a closer look at your existing facility, measuring current traffic flow, and conducting a survey of your current patrons.
Physical space: First, assess the physical space itself. Start by making a floor plan and noting the most prominent features of your dining hall, such as entrances, exits, and other architectural elements. Next, conduct a condition assessment, taking note of any maintenance issues, such as poor lighting or complicated HVAC systems.
Traffic flow: Turn your attention to traffic flow. For example, where are the high-traffic areas in your dining hall, and where does the traffic flow tend to get congested? This information will help you identify any design or architectural modifications that could ease congestion.
Survey: Finally, conduct a survey of your current patrons to get a better sense of what they like and don’t like about your dining facility. This will help you identify potential pain points or areas for improvement, such as a desire for a larger or quieter dining area.
Understanding your audience and desired audience experience
Another critical step in designing a modern dining hall is understanding your current audience and desired audience experience. To do this, you will want to conduct some research, including:
- Talking to current patrons: Interview current dining facility patrons to understand their likes and dislikes better. It will enable you to identify any pain points they experience and what they like about the facility. Be sure to ask about their meal preparation, consumption experience, and overall impression of the dining facility.
- Survey data: Besides talking to patrons, review any survey data related to the dining facility. You may have this data from previously conducted surveys available on your school’s student services portal.
- Focus groups: Finally, conduct some focus groups with potential or target patrons to better understand their dining experience. It is an excellent way to understand your target audience’s desires for the dining facility.
Defining the dining area’s infrastructure and capabilities
After you have a design direction, it’s time to explain the infrastructure and capabilities of your dining area. Knowing exactly what you want will help you select the right vendors and contractors and can provide accurate information about your facility's design and engineering. Your design must encompass the following:
- -Food and drink: What type of food and drink options will be available for patrons? Will these be prepared off-site or in-house? Where will they be stored?
- -Preparation and service: Will food and drink be served in a buffet-style fashion or from a full-service kitchen? Will patrons serve themselves, or will service be provided by staff?
- -Waste management: Where will waste be stored and transported? What type of disposal system will be used?
- -Storage and cleaning: Where will supplies be stored? Will they be stored in a central location or distributed throughout the facility? Will they be stored vertically or horizontally? Will cleaning materials and chemicals be centralized?
- -HVAC: What type of HVAC system will be used? What are the energy usage and capacity requirements?
- - Design and aesthetics: What type of design elements will be used? What type of materials, lighting, and finishes will be used? Will the design be inspired by your school’s architectural style? Will any unique branding messages be incorporated into the design?
- -Utilities: What type of electrical and water systems will be used? Will there be multiple utility systems or a single central utility system?
Selecting colors, materials, and textures
Once you have established a design direction, it’s time to select the materials, textures, and colors for your dining facility. These will help enhance your chosen design and provide the finishing touches that tie everything together. To select the best materials, consider the following:
- Overall theme: What is the overall theme for your dining facility? Is it modern, minimalist, or rustic? Will the theme be reflected in the design of the dining facility? Will it be reflected in the design of the seating? Will it be reflected in the materials used?
- Lighting: How will the lighting be used to enhance the dining experience? What type of lighting will be used? How will it be used? What are the light levels, including brightness and dimming capabilities? What type of fixtures will be used?
- Finishes: What type of finishes will be used? Will they be metal, wood, or plastic? How will they be used? What are the durability levels of these materials? What cleaning requirements do they have?
- Seating: What type of seating will be used? Will it be modular, fixed, or movable? What is the seating capacity for the facility? What are the finishes and textures of the seating?
Prominent features in dining halls
Eventually, you will want to identify potential features that can be featured in your dining facility. These can include anything from seating to flooring materials. Some common features you may want to consider should include seating, flooring, table tops, etc.
Conclusion
Designing a modern dining hall can be an exciting and vital project. There are many things to consider, from choosing the right location to picking the right vendors. As with any major project, start early and outline a schedule for the most efficient use of resources. Consider the tips shared in this article on hoe.com for more helpful information on design.
