We were asked by our client Barchester Healthcare to develop the design for the refurbishment of an existing kitchen within Flowerdown Care Home in October 2021. This included a new ventilation system and gas pipe work modifications with new external pipework and a new manifold in the kitchen. We completed a site survey of the area and checked the existing equipment to identify items of good working condition that could be reused and incorporated into the new layout to improve the workflow and food safety within the kitchen area.
Following our survey, it highlighted that the existing equipment was very cramped and not suitable for how Barchester were moving forward with their impressive food offer or energy efficient which Barchester have at the core of their company values. There were lots of potential hazards within the kitchen, and the staff faced daily challenges in the kitchen, some of which were:

*The dry store consisted mainly of timber shelving, which was not hygienic. The shelves were also quite shallow, which limited the capacity of storage. The staff advised that the chest freezer did not work but was still in situ and taking up a lot of valuable space. (PHOTO: “Old 3”)

*Within the cookline there was a fryer and an ageing 6-burner gas range which had the only oven for cooking food for the residents. The ventilation system was compliant with DW172 standards, especially with the cooking equipment being gas, and there was very little preparation and storage space available. (PHOTO: “Old 1”)

*This dishwash area worked as both a preparation, beverage and washing up area. There was no segregation between the dirty crockery and clean crockery, making it potentially hazardous for cross contamination. The dishwasher was a small front-loading machine but considering how tight this area was, operating the machine was very challenging for the staff. (PHOTO: “Old 4”)

*The hot water boiler was in a wall recess at the end of the room, and in order to make hot beverages staff had to squeeze between crockery trolleys and reach over a prep bench which posed health and safety concerns. (PHOTO: “Old 4 and 6”)

*Another issue was the main preparation area, which was partially in the dishwash zone, with benches wrapping around towards the cookline. It was very congested and prone to cross-contamination. A large double-door fridge took up a lot of walkway space in the kitchen. (PHOTO: “Old 2, 5 and 7”)

Having worked with Barchester Health Care Group for over 20 years we are very familiar with their kitchen requirements and with what is needed within their settings. Our design was accepted by them after minimal tweaking following feedback from the Barchester project team, and we then developed the final costings for Barchester to sign off. Some of the new works were:

*For their dry storage we replaced the wooden shelving with large capacity 4-tier stainless steel storage racks and the existing double-door fridge was moved to a better suited location to maximise the walkthrough area in the kitchen. (PHOTOS: “New 1”)

*A new ventilation canopy and stainless steel wall cladding along with new ductwork through the building, discharging on a roof made the cooking area better ventilated, and a new gas interlock system, with emergency stop buttons by each door made the kitchen safer as well as meeting regulations. The introduction of a Plasma-Cleanair ozone dosing system within the extract duct results in minimal odours from the kitchen escaping to the atmosphere.

*The new cookline consists of a modern 6-grid Rational iCombi oven, which opens great new opportunities for menu options along with a new 4-burner range and efficient fryer added to improve the potential of the kitchen. (PHOTOS: “New 1, 2, 3, 6”)

*The dishwash area is now segregated, so dirties and cleans are kept separate making it safe from cross contamination. The large inlet table allows for accepting a large number of dirty crockery at any one time and two sink bowls and a pre-rinse spray make pre-washing a breeze. A pass-through dishwasher with a cleans table big enough to take two baskets makes for very efficient operation and means less manual loading and unloading of the undercounter dishwasher for staff. Two new 4-tier storage racks for clean crockery creates a much neater storage space. (PHOTOS: “New 4”)

*We had also incorporated a dedicated COSHH section, with lockable storage cupboard and bucket sink (with built-in hand basin) for safe storage of chemicals. (PHOTOS: “New 5”)

*To save cost and waste the existing sink and wall shelves were kept as there was plenty of use left in them. (PHOTOS: “New 7, 8, 9”)

*A hot water boiler was incorporated in the prep-zone, allowing for easier preparation of hot beverages and a new large central prep-bench, with two-tier undershelf gives nice workspace for the chef. (PHOTO: “New 10”)

This project had a very quick turnaround of only 2 weeks for the entire scope of works, including removing the existing kitchen, through to the delivery of training for the new kitchen equipment. During this time the care home was using a rented temporary kitchen, which meant that finishing all elements of work to the programme was crucial for the care home as it was both inconvenient and costly.

WREN Construction carried out all the building and decorating works including the replacing of the existing wall tiles & flooring with new hygienic cladding & vinyl flooring along with new plumbing and electrical upgrades required for us to undertake our installation. We worked with our sister company GS Engineering Ltd on the gas works and installation of the kitchen equipment, and BWF for the new kitchen ventilation system and canopy. Following careful planning and daily communication with the project team and subcontractors we completed the installation of the kitchen two days before the planned completion date.

The new kitchen has created a practical and pleasant working environment separating zones and given staff the ability to expand the menu making the food offer for their residents a very pleasurable experience.