To plinth or not to plinth?

That is the question.... Well, almost!

The real question is identifying the most hygienic and practical solution to equipment and fabrication mounting to suit the longevity and purse the client demands.

A kitchen in its fundamental design should be easy to clean and prevent opportunistic pest infestation. Sometimes I think this element gets overlooked wether it be poor design knowledge or design aesthetics on a shoe-string.

It is worth while considering all forms of equipment/fabrication mounting in a project. The most common are:

Adjustable levelling feet providing a 150-200mm clear gap between floor and underside of fabrication. This provides a suitable cleaning gap sufficient to get a mop under, it is important to keep counter frame work as open as possible to aid cleaning and visual inspection.

Removable kick strips can be provided to this type of fabrication to give a more tidy plinth like look but it is my opinion that this should be a front of house finish only, this solution back of house only increases the cleaning time and quite often does not get removed to clean behind giving a free reign to pests.

Cantilevered equipment provide a great cleaning solution as there is no base to impede cleaning. However a complete mobile undercounter solution will need to be provided to ensure effective undercounter storage space is not affected due to fabrication construction.

Mobile equipment is by far the simplest and cost effective solution for kitchens, unfortunately it does not look the best and is frowned upon by many designers, this however does not mean it should be overlooked. Back of house kitchen design should not be form over function so perhaps we should get off our high horse on this one!

Finally we come to the plinth. The primary goal of a a Foodservice counter/bench being mounted on a plinth is to aid cleaning by brining the floor line in from the wall to the front (50-100mm back) of the fabrication worktops. Over the years I have seen this done a multitude of different ways, all look the same visually with the finished floor coving up them but not all function the same from a pest perspective! Most effectively create a big dark inaccessible void under the fabrication that becomes a safe haven for kitchen pests.

If it needs to be done it should be done properly where the operatives see the true benefit. I have herd many kitchen designers accuse architects of designing form over function, let us not fall into the same trap.

To do a plinth properly it is my opinion that a heavy duty stainless steel box frame shell should be fixed to the structural floor with a stainless steel shell. All services protrusions through the floor should be sealed and finished with a stainless steel collar (2mm+) remainder of void should be back filled with a pest proof material then a stainless steel (2mm+) top with cut outs for rising survices welded or bolted down onto the frame. A marine ply backing can be placed to the fascia of the plinth that will require the finished flooring to be coved up against it. The counter is now ready to accept some hygienic cabinetry to complete the fabrication.

Grease? Trap, dose or both?

This is something that badgers kitchen designers on what would seam to be every project now days of which I think we struggle to get a satisfactory resolve on.

My biggest problem is the phrase that I am hearing more and more from public health consultants "just put one under the pot wash sink". Well that is just fine and dandy for ticking the box for the water board, but what about the rest of the drains in the kitchen? And the fact that the trap under the sink is very inefficient and a potential health hazard to what is supposed to be a clean kitchen.
The plight is not help by supposed governing body's who just won't put their chap on the block and be counted. The water boards, EHO and building control tend to be draconian or woolly about the matter.
One thing I know for sure! This issue will not just magically disappear, but the issues being forced into a kitchen needs to be addressed.
Grease traps do work! When they are placed correctly as per their original design and building control regulations, this happens to be located outside of the kitchen demise as part of a building solution in the form of a professionally maintained trap, not as a box placed under a sink.

Firstly let's discuss the boxes placed under sinks in kitchens. These units do work to a degree but they are often underdized and incorrectly positioned. FOG (fats, oils and grease) remain in quite a fluid state in warm temperatures till about 18 degrees C. Waste water from a potwash sink or dishwashing machine is normally higher then this temperature therefore the bulk of the FOG will bypass the trap and solidify in the main drain, this is counter productive to putting the trap in in the first place - this practice needs to stop! A grease trap under the pot wash sink may as well be a paper bag, but put that trap further down the line and pick up a few more waste streams!! Now we are onto something!

Paid or Free Commercial Kitchen Design services?

Firstly let’s dispel the myth about the “Free Design Service”! Nothing is free, what changes is where you pay for it!

The “Free” design is typically offered by an equipment distribution house and the cost of the design service will be included in the mark-up added onto the equipment costs, typically called Design & Supply.

The “Paid” design service is what you would go to a Consultant for, where you would pay a fee for a design and associated documents (depending on the level of service required)

Our scenario is probably directly comparable to Architect – Builder comparison! So if you find your project needing an Architect you will probably find that the “Paid” Consultant route is best suited to offer a complete design solution. If on the other hand you are only doing some small modifications to your kitchen and have a builder in you would probably find the “Free” design and build services from an equipment distributer more suited to your needs.

Catering Commercial Kitchens!

Designing a commercial catering facility is full of dynamically changing perimeters that are never helped or answered by many trade associations. The problem is that there are too many governing body’s involved in different sections of a kitchen that are only interested in their own insular requirements to actually give a damn about the overall kitchen and its function. Many of the personnel in these bodys either do not have the knowledge or the “stepping up to the plate” mentality to ever give you a viable solution other than the one written on their script sheet. In the end it is down to the foodservice designers of these spaces to become a Jack of all trades to enable them to come up with the best solution for the client needs while complying with all the regulations.

This blog is what I am hoping to use to document my ramblings on various subjects that get my goat to flush out some logical solutions.