DESIGN & INTERIORS
COUNTER TOP EVOLUTION
As catering trends change, basic finish counter tops and traditional designs are not always sufficient in modern hospitality design. Leon Hoyles, Senior Contracts Manager, at Shine Catering Systems, explores the transformation in counter tops for catering environments.
Servery counters have evolved in recent years in line with changing high street catering trends. The growth of theatre cooking and open plan spaces, not to mention the rise of grab and go, have all impacted catering design to ensure counters are no longer just a functional space to pass food. Instead, counters in modern catering environments now have to look great and be flexible too.
In fact, this flexibility is the key to meeting the demands of many catering environments. The same space could be used as a cold display counter in the morning and hot display counter for lunch, evening or event catering. Manufacturers have had to keep up with changing demand and we’ve seen the technology in both materials and equipment develop rapidly in recent years. Today, thanks to the way counters are manufactured and the way in which technology is mounted under the surface, the same counter can now be used as hot, cold and ambient workspace.
Solutions for street food Still on the theme of flexibility, counter top design has also evolved to meet the unique demands of a growing number of market hall and street food environments, particularly in business and industry sectors.
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It’s not unusual for catering operators to invite guest vendors into their space, improving the variety and quality of B&I dining offers to compete with increasingly competitive lunchtime high street markets. However, this is only possible with the right equipment, providing the flexibility for different vendors to produce anything from cold salads to fried international dishes, sometimes on consecutive days. Flexible counters and food holding technology enables flexible cooking delivery.
The impact on materials This shift has inevitably had an impact on materials too. Surfaces like Consentino’s Dekton product have come to the fore due to their significant thermal properties, able to withstand high temperatures and cold temperatures far better than more conventional materials. This innovative, ultra-compact and high-performance surface offers endless design possibilities for outdoor and indoor spaces.
Thermal performance has always been a challenge in countertop materials because there’s a natural expansion when the surface is heated and contraction when it’s chilled. With natural materials, for example, you need thermal breaks.
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