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School dining spaces

This article originally appeared on the Future Online website as part of the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) support programme.

School dining spaces and kitchens can easily get overlooked when you’re involved with BSF, but getting the design right will result in healthier, happier pupils – and bring an emotional heart to the school.

Amid everything else that school leaders need to consider when they’re going through the Building Schools for the Future programme, kitchen and dining areas can easily be overlooked. However, well-designed kitchen and dining spaces are an important part of any school, and key to encouraging children and young people to enjoy good healthy food. Beyond that, it’s where children do a large amount of their socialising, and getting the design of dining spaces right can bring an emotional heart to the school.

Getting these areas right can be a difficult balancing act, believes Neil Hogan, director of architects firm Spence Harris Hogan, which has a background in restaurant design and has recently taken on three school cafeteria projects; one in London with the Sorrell Foundation and two in Southampton with the School Food Trust.

“The spaces we have been confronted with are often multi-functional areas, which makes them tricky to work with,” explains Neil. “Dining is not always the sole function of these areas and many schools look to use them as anything ranging from extra storage areas through to a destination for after schools clubs and areas for informal study. This brings a unique set of problems with it.”

Poor design affects efficiency

Poor design affects the ability of dining spaces to function efficiently. On top of this, an attractive space is more likely to give positive messages about good food and about lunch as a social event. If pupils are well fed and feel refreshed and relaxed by their experience they are more likely to perform better in class time. Lunchtimes can be a good social experience, supporting improved behaviour. Good social spaces give a positive message to pupils, staff and community.

School leaders need to remember that the dining area is an important space that contributes to the wellbeing of pupils and staff. Ask staff and pupils about the type of dining experience they would like and feed this back to the design team.

This feedback process is something Neil believes is fundamental to achieving a good design. “It’s important to use inputs from the kids. When you get a brief it tends to have been written by the teachers or the food provider. Getting pupils involved in the team alongside the food operators and the teachers will give you a much truer and more honest opinion.”

Neil points out that it’s important to identify the various needs of the children while they’re in these spaces: there will be those who want to eat and go, and those who want to socialise. So any space needs to be broken down into zones to cater for these and separating them graphically can be an important part of creating an identity. “Allowing children to have an input in this area and choosing the types of colours and designs they want to see can help foster a sense of ownership. Most children in our experience want to be proud of their school, and allowing them this input in such a vital space really helps,” he adds.

Seating matters

Even something as simple as seating can really help the look and feel of your dining space, but this one area where Spence Harris Hogan has had issues. “Seating can be a good way of breaking up spaces and giving it a feel that sets it apart from the traditional food hall feel," says Neil. "While some schools have done a great job, many just tend to put standard tables and chairs in a big space that rarely creates the intimacy most children, in our experience, want."

"Much of the problem here surrounds provision, with the furniture contract being handed to the same people that do the laboratory and classroom fittings. Good quality furniture can make a big impact on the comfort and enjoyment of the dining space. Sufficient funding must be allowed within the overall budget to achieve this.”

Food provision also has a huge bearing on the architectural design of a space. “If we were designing a high street restaurant, the first questions we ask are: What food are you going to serve? How are you going to produce it? How quickly is it going to go cold? And how quickly can you produce it?” says Neil. “Identifying where food is coming from, what it’s going to be and what the aspirations are for the actual overall process is crucial. You can then look at the other areas you need such as out of school hours clubs, entertainment or adult education.”

On a practical note, you must base your area needs on likely future take-up of school meals and not just on current take-up. There must be enough space for those pupils eating a packed lunch as well as those taking school lunch; the requirements for breakfast clubs, break-time snacks and any community use should also be considered.

School leaders need to think about the location of a dining space at an early stage and in a large secondary school whether there will be one central space or more dispersed spaces. You need to consider space for queuing, serving and clearing up in addition to space for eating, as well as allowing enough room for circulation alongside those sitting at tables. Also, if you have access to outside space and this can also be brought into your plans, too.

Aims and criteria

Neil adds to this advice: “You need to set out a full brief including the aim and criteria behind the use of the space, such as getting more people to eat, giving them a social space and offering opportunity for after school use. Also look at what things you want to include in your design, such as colours schemes, school noticeboards and pupil artwork. Once you’ve put your objectives and values together, put a quick survey together and give it to all the kids. Finding out things like which restaurants they like on the high street, the types of things the want to eat, how they want to use the space will give a great starting point.”

With so much to think about, schools need to ensure they consult specialists at an early stage to ensure the design suits the school’s needs. Not only should the kitchen be able to provide meals that meet nutritional standards, but schools have to balance these considerations with a series of concerns around curriculum, healthy living and extended schools. On top of this, they also have to ensure that they don’t get persuaded to have too much or unsuitable expensive equipment by suppliers. This requires specialist knowledge and is not something that should be left to the last minute.

Neil agrees adding that schools need to get their authority involved as early as possible to find out what is and isn’t possible. “Don’t keep them at arms length as they can and will have objections, which can throw a spanner in the works,” he warns. “You also need to find out whether the contractor they are using has the specialist design history and knowledge in kitchen and dinning areas. If not, it’s possible to get specialists to come and do a day’s consultation to help school leaders look at what is possible, so they can set out their own specific brief and work with the developers and the local authority to create something they really want.”

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