SPACE MANAGEMENT

Not all coffee shops are created equal—some opt for a fast-food, utilitarian vibe, while others choose to provide an ambience that invites patrons to stay for long periods of time. Before tackling space concerns, determine your café’s character and menu. An equally important thing to consider is your café’s location. In principle, locating your coffee shop in a shopping mall is more expensive than getting space in a suburban area.

When designing the space for your coffee shop, there are typically two things you should consider:

• Dining-kitchen ratio. Architect Jeanne Mercado stresses, “dining-kitchen ratio is key to space allotment. All others will follow from this.”

Roberto de la Costa, a food-service expert, explains that no two places are the same. “Unfortunately, most restaurant owners simply have to work with the space/layout they are offered. Some restaurants set aside 50 percent for the dining area and 50 percent for the kitchen area, while others set various ratios.”

• Work efficiency. De la Costa emphasizes that kitchen design is a factor in the work efficiency of cafe’s and restaurants. “For example, production flow should always be a straight line, meaning, the process [should] not be going back and forth to achieve faster service time.” He also cites the importance of furniture layout to ensure safety and customer comfort. “In restaurants, a narrow corridor will always pose more safety concerns,” dela Costa says.

So how can you accommodate as many customers as you can without making the place seem too cramped or crowded? The rule of thumb, Mercado says, is alotting 1.5 sq m per customer in the dining area. But remember that cost of investment, turnover rate and meal prices also should be factored in the design. “If designers know these, then they can easily compute the number of seats/turnover that will be acceptable to the owners.”

SIZE MATTERS

If the space for your new coffee shop is small, these are some things that you could do to make it look bigger:

• Maximize the ceiling height.

• Use light colors with accent walls.

• Use mirrors or glass to create the illusion of more space.

• Avoid clutter.