With the modern workplace becoming ever more flexible in terms of employee hours and roles, the need for an effective kitchen space has become vital. Whether it’s taking a quick break to brainstorm, have lunch, or grab a meal because you’re working unsociable hours, a good kitchen is vital for productivity and morale. From focusing on the kitchen triangle to staff taking responsibility for kitchen tasks such as sterilising jars in microwave ovens, here’s how to design a functional office kitchen.
- Place functionality at the heart
Functionality is key to any kitchen, whether it’s in the home or at work, but in an office this becomes even more important. As there’ll be different people using it at any one time the flow needs to be good, and that’s where working around the kitchen triangle is really useful.
In simple terms, the triangle refers to where you place the fridge, cooker and sink… and that should be at the end of each point of a triangle. This will help with space and efficiency, as there’s less chance for people to get in each other’s way.
- Keep the design simple
Just like the flow of your kitchen is really important, keeping the design simple is important too. That means making sure that you don’t pack it out with unnecessary gadgets, appliances and décor. But that doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice style though. A clean and functional kitchen can still be cool; you just need to prioritise functionality.
- Remember that sound travels
Once employees have had a chance to use the new kitchen it’ll quickly become a bit of a hub. And rather than discourage that (after all, communication breeds creativity), consider soundproofing so that others in the office aren’t disturbed. It could be something as simple as making sure there are doors to close or partitions to pull across; anything that controls the level of noise that gets out into the main workspace.
- Make it sociable and encourage responsibility
Following on from controlling the sound levels, it’s important to emphasise that the kitchen is an area for socialising in too – as long as you’ve got the space. It’s great for teambuilding and sharing ideas, and can give a real lift to morale and enthusiasm. If you have got space, you could consider adding in some activities and games.
In addition to making it a sociable, encourage kitchen responsibility too. Whether that means washing up after yourself, recycling waste, or sterilising jars in microwave ovens to store food hygienically, the more ownership employees have, the more they will work in collaboration to keep everything clean, organised and efficient.
Put these steps in place and design a functional office kitchen that best suits your workplace.
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