MEMORIAL HIGH SCHOOL
T
he Spring Branch Independent School District’s new Memorial High School in Houston, Texas, features a kitchen designed to accommodate a "mega lunch," with all its menu items merchandised as grab-n-go. But there is more to the design than just feeding students. Another vital goal behind the design was treating students like customers and providing a very different dining experience. “As a team, we were excited to open this kitchen, and more importantly build a new customer experience for our students,” says Michael Francis, interim director, Child Nutrition Services, Financial Services Division, for the district. “This open concept and the ability to showcase our multiple offerings to customers from a bird’s-eye view will allow our students to understand we are focused on meeting today's customer experiences. As a district, we are committed to thinking outside of the box to meet those demands daily.” “With this design we always need to keep
in mind crowd- and theft-control,” explains FCSI Senior Associate Melissa Moore, principal of Foodservice Design Professionals in The Woodlands, Texas, who handled the project. “Having one main entrance area and all exit areas by a cashier helps to minimize potential theft. This was a really nice design.” The school dates back to 1962, but re- opened at a new campus on 3 January this year. There are more than 2,500 students, and a kitchen staff of 10 serves 900 lunches daily.
Simplistic design Moore’s first contact with the school district came in January 2019. Design work
All the components in the kitchen are designed to work together
began a month later, and construction documents were finalized in January of 2020. Construction was eventually completed in September of 2021.
“Looking at the design from a bird’s-eye view you see the simplicity of the layout and serving counters. This design was created with the less is more mentality"
The kitchen includes five serving lines with a dedicated coffee bar, remote cashiers located at the exits, and a large space in between the serving lines and cashiers to accommodate traffic flow. The kitchen also includes 832 sq ft (77 sq m) of dry storage, with the walk-in cooler/freezer measuring 600 sq ft (55 sq m). There is, Moore says, no single piece of equipment that qualifies as the workhorse in this space. “All the components working together become the workhorse.” The “star” of the design, she adds, is the servery, which includes serving counters, cashier stations and coffee bar. “As this is a high school, the students will need to navigate the space themselves,” Moore points out. “There are no guide rails or other traffic control options provided.” There is one entry point, with eight exit points at the cashier stations. Students can choose which line they wish to stand on based on the menu offerings. “The potential for theft is minimized by keeping the exit points directly next to each cashier station. Issues with traffic flow are minimized by providing plenty of space for students to navigate.” What made this project unique for Moore was what she views as the “simplistic” design of the servery. “Looking at the design from a bird’s-eye view you see the simplicity of the layout and serving counters. This design was created with the less is more mentality.” Menu guides the design, Moore
explains. Adequate storage space, prep and 71
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