There are numerous significant aspects to consider when designing your restaurant. Ambience created through the interior design is just as important as the high-quality food, cleanliness and great customer service. We have (somehow) managed to shorten this vast list and have selected our five most important areas to consider when designing your restaurant interior:
1. Layout
Functionality is key to a restaurant layout – an organised circulation of staff and customers helps to maximise function. Configuration of the bar, kitchen and seating areas makes a huge difference on efficiency and layouts that maximise covers should not compromise on the design. Knowledge of current building regulations is also very important to ensure your restaurant is compliant and accessible.
2. Lighting
Lighting is vital to set the mood and reach the atmospheric potential of your restaurant. The colour, intensity and type should all be well considered; dimmable lighting helps the transition from day to night, feature pendant lighting can create some drama and add interest and concealed LED can help to highlight feature areas such as a bar counter or bottle display.
3. Branding
Branding and interior design work hand-in-hand, as the interior design reinforces your brand. To enable your brand to stand out, colour, typeface and setting out should all be factors to consider to achieve a strong definitive brand. Subtle connections throughout elements such as signage, menus, logos and even down to your apron design enables link with the interior design and this helps to establish a well-thought-out brand with a clear identity.
4. Bespoke Items
Incorporating bespoke items adds something really unique and special to your restaurant by making it stand out from competitors. There could be a wide range of unique design touches such as wallpaper, furniture, joinery and lighting. A comprehensive understanding of materials, furnishings and finishes and close attention to detail will add real value to your interior, with durability and sustainability just as important as the aesthetics.
5. Acoustics
Studies show that noise is one of the most complained about restaurant issues. A restaurant with a noisy open kitchen combined with bare walls and high ceilings will cause echoes as little sound will be absorbed. Whilst designing a restaurant, you should constantly plan around how to improve the acoustics, whether that is by adding in soft furnishings, drapery or acoustic panels which all play a part in absorbing sound. A huge improvement to the acoustics of your restaurant will make a real difference and enable your restaurant to function at its full potential.
In summary, these are some of the most important areas to cover in restaurant design and most often the ones than can go wrong. At Creed Design, we have a restless drive to develop the best solutions for our clients to enhance the customer’s experience. We’d love to hear about your project, so please don’t hesitate to contact us.
