Restaurant layout, planning and licensing
Location
Birmingham
Project type
Hospitality / Restaurant
Services
Restaurant layout, kitchen planning, licensing plans, planning coordination, specialist coordination
Status
Completed
Project overview
Following the success of its street-food business, Buddha Belly secured a blank commercial unit for its first permanent restaurant. Initial Designs developed the operational layout, kitchen and customer areas while coordinating the planning and licensing information needed to move the fit-out forward.
Design story
The existing premises consisted of two open areas separated by a central WC. We began by understanding the brand, style of service and type of experience the clients wanted to create, alongside the practical requirements of operating the restaurant.
Several floor-plan options tested different customer capacities, circulation routes and relationships between front-of-house and back-of-house areas. This allowed the team to compare how each arrangement would affect both customer experience and day-to-day operation.
Once the preferred layout was agreed, the kitchen and supporting spaces were developed in greater detail. We coordinated with the ventilation specialist so that the extraction requirements worked with the kitchen arrangement rather than being treated as a separate decision later.
The completed information provided a clear route from an empty commercial unit to a workable restaurant. The layout, kitchen, extraction, planning and premises-licensing requirements were considered together before the fit-out began.
