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2012 national competition project #118 | cafeteria redesign

By lkucinski3 | L Redesign your school Cafeteria | 2012 National High School Architecture Competition

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Welcome to the 2012 DiscoverDesign National High School Architecture Competition!
These are the instructions for entering a design project in the competition.

Design Challenge Background
Cafeterias are often dark and crowded. They are uncomfortable and unhealthy.

Design Challenge Brief
The challenge is to redesign your high school cafeteria and re-think how your school’s cafeteria should, or could, function asas a healthy eating space. What does a cafeteria look like that is designed around a person’s needs?

You may redesign the interior of the existing cafeteria space, expand on the existing space, or design a completely new addition on to your school building. Your design should contain all the spaces and functions required for a typical school cafeteria – a variety of seating options for students (inside and out!), as well as a food storage, space for the kitchen, outdoor eating spaces, serving areas, and places to pay for the meal. You should also consider sustainability issues and the environmental impact of your design.

What should I upload in this Overview step?

Write a short description of the problems you will be trying to solve in redesigning your school library.

What is the Design Process?

How do you start a project? How do you get from the design problem to the final design? Learn more about the design process here.

Out of the nine periods of a school day, the average student gets one small 42 minute period for his or her lunch where they can socialize with their friends, eat a healthy meal, catch up on school work, get some fresh air, and simply have some time to relax. There are a little under 1200 students at my school, High Point Regional High School, and four lunch periods. Consider the daily attendance at a school, and take away students that do not have lunch, and one can say around 250 students eat in the cafeteria at one time. That's a lot of students if you ask me. So why must the cafeteria be small, loud, uncomfortable, look like a prison on the inside, not provide an outdoor and quiet eating area, and not provide healthy eating options? For this project, Discover Design: Redesign your school cafeteria, i will be redesigning my school cafeteria to provide students with all of the needs and benefits of a healthy cafeteria listed above.

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In the Collect Info step of the design process, you try to gather as much information as possible about your existing school cafeteria, along with the students and staff who will use it.  You can't propose new solutions until you figure out and document what the existing problems are.

Try This

  • Walk around the interior of your school building and take photos or a short video of the existing cafeteria. You can upload those photos or short videos here. Be sure to write a detailed description for every image.

Think About

  • How many students need to be seated in the cafeteria during one period?
  • What types of furniture is used in the existing cafeteria? Does it need to be movable? Why or why not?

Try This

  • Interview students, cooks, and other staff about what they think of the existing cafeteria.  What changes would they make to spaces if they had a choice?
  • Make a list of those features that you really like about how your cafeteria looks and functions.
  • Make separate list of all the ways that your current cafeteria is not so well designed (chairs may be uncomfortable or the light is poor, or there are really great outdoor eating areas).

Try This

  • Take measurements of the overall dimensions of your existing cafeteria.
  • Take interior photos of the hallways and entrances that lead into your existing cafeteria.

Think About

  • What are the different pathways that students use to get into the cafeteria now?
  • What types of food are available in your cafeteria? How are they stored?

 

Try This

  • Visit Flickr or another photo sharing site and search for other types of cafeterias to determine good and bad examples of how cafeterias accommodate user’s needs, especially teens.

Think About

  • Does your new school cafeteria need to look like the same typical cafeteria with long rows of tables?  What other eating spaces around the world are inspiring and interesting?

What should I upload in this Collect Info step?

Consider uploading photos, a short video, and a site plan drawing of your existing school library. Help us understand the existing conditions and the location of this room.

How do I collect Information?

How can collecting information help me with the design problem? Learn ways to collect information that will help you with the design process here.

lkucinski3's work for the Collect Information step:

Summary
As a Junior at High Point High School, I see many problems with my school cafeteria from the first moment I enter through the lunch doors everyday.
About 250 students sit in the cafeteria at one time. There are four lunch periods. Large tables and...
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In the kitchen area, the kitchen staff complained about several different things. To begin with,...
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Students said they enjoy the sandwich stand when they do not like the lunch being served that day....
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The cafeteria annex is openly attached to the main seating area, and it doesn't provide any...
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Dimensions of the existing cafeteria were taken. Floor plans of the cafeteria help better...
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Another demand our cafeteria does not meet is efficiency. With no windows leading outside, sunlight...
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Because of the location of the kitchen, a long spacious hallway is needed to transport supplies and...
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In the Brainstorm Ideas step of the design process, you put some early ideas down on paper that show what you've found in the Collect Info step.  You also might take more photos to show specific new ideas you have. 

The simple diagrams you make here will help you understand how the existing cafeteria location and design compare with your new ideas.

 

Try This

  • Walk around the exterior of your school building and take photos of possible locations for your new cafeteria with outdoor seating.

Think About

  • Will this cafeteria replace your school's existing cafeteria or become an addition to a different part of the building? Will it be built in an empty lot or space?  Will it be underground or built on the roof?  You decide.

Try This

  • Use Google Maps to view and print out an aerial photo of your school. 

Think About

  • Spend some time looking at the aerial photo of your school.  What types of other buildings surround your school?  Homes, businesses, parks, parking lots, or an empty field?  How will these other buildings impact the design of your new library?
  • What types of streets surround your school? Are they busy or quiet?     

Try This

  • On a piece of tracing paper placed over the aerial photo of your school, sketch a diagram showing a large arc around the building to show the path of the sun throughout the day.  This drawing is called a site analysis diagram.  (Remember, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west.)
  • Draw other lines on this diagram to indicate the best views around the building.

Think About

  • Based on the site analysis diagram you've sketched, where is the sun located throughout the school day? 
  • How can the indoor and outdoor seating areas of your new cafeteria be positioned to take advantage of the sunlight for good lighting?

What should I upload in this Brainstorm Ideas step?

Consider uploading hand sketches or a quick study model of all your first ideas. You can scan these drawings or take photos of your model.

How do I brainstorm ideas?

Brainstorming ideas is your first step towards making an informed decision to the design solution. Learn more about that here.

lkucinski3's work for the Brainstorm Ideas step:

Summary
After collecting much valuable information regarding the positives and mostly the negatives of my school cafeteria in the second step of the design process, it is time to brainstorm for ideas.
After doing research, it was discovered that health researchers focus a lot of their job on...
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Several different changes can be made to the kitchen and maintenance areas. To begin with, one of...
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When a person thinks of lunch, the first thing they may thing of is a sandwich. From peanut butter...
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In order to incorporate a quiet and outdoor eating space, much of the existing design will have to...
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Another problem the new cafeteria design must eliminate is traffic flow issues. Students are not...
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Out of all the improvements that will be seen in the new cafeteria design, the most important to me...
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The overall design of the cafeteria will obviously be changed, but the problem is how. The most...
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In the Develop Solutions step, your rough ideas come together with drawings and models that can show others your solutions for a new cafeteria.

Important! Since DiscoverDesign is about investigating the design process, the other people viewing your project - other students around the country, your teacher, and the competition judges - want to see how your ideas have changed over time. This means that while you're working on your digital model, you’ll want to be sure to keep re-saving it with a new file name every few days as you work through the steps.

Try This

  • Draw a sketch or use software such as Google SketchUp, AutoCAD, or Revit to illustrate your ideas.  You can upload photos (JPG files) from your SketchUp model, video fly throughs (FLV files) of your SketchUp model, or drawings (DWF files) from AutoCAD.

 

Try This

  • Make sure your cafeteria includes the following types of spaces and furnishings.
    - indoor seating area (tables, seating)
    - outdoor seating area (tables, seating)
    - food storage (shelves)
    - cook desk (place to check out)
    - small office for kitchen staff
    - bins for recycyling

 

What should I upload in this Develop Solutions step?

Consider uploading images (JPG, GIF) of your rough digital model. It's ok if your model is still a work in progress. Show an axonometric or perspective view with people, which will help others understand the scale of your library.

How do I develop solutions?

Look at all of the ideas you gathered in the last step. How do those respond to the needs of the space? Learn more about developing solutions here.

lkucinski3's work for the Develop Solutions step:

Summary
After much research and brainstorming comes the challenging step of developing solutions.
For the first solution, all of the information gathered in previous steps was put together to...
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For this design, the most positive aspect is the efficient spacing. The kitchen will be moved to...
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For the third solution, the cafeteria will simply eliminate the storage room, extra bathroom,...
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To begin with, this efficient design allows for a lot more kitchen space and no long hallways. Also...
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In this idea, the kitchen is turned, allowing for a better flowing service line. This line also has...
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This solution is perhaps the best most efficient one developed. Covering every problem mentioned in...
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The final step of the design process is to create more finished drawings that illustrate your ideas to others. Remember, your explanation text, and the types of drawings, images, and models you share need to tell the whole story of your project to someone who may or may not have ever visited your school.

You might want to share floor plans, elevations, renderings of your digital model, photos of a physical model, or a video animation of your model.

Continue to collect feedback from your peers, teachers and the online community to help you improve on your final design. Be sure to review and add constructive comments on the work of other students who are solving the same design problem. If your ideas change, be sure to explain your thinking and let others know about the new work you have posted to your account.

What should I upload in this Final Design step?

Consider uploading final hand or digital renderings, images of your finished physical model, or your finished digital model (as a DWF file).

How do I know I have my final design?

Consider all of the design considerations you made in your last step. Use feedback from students, teachers, and mentors to finalize your design. Learn more about finishing your design here.

lkucinski3's work for the Final Design step:

Summary
For the final step of the design process, all of the work done in previous steps will be put together to create the final solution.
My final design is quite simple. To begin with, the Boiler room is the same size in the same spot....
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The kitchen and food service area is also much more efficient than the original design. To begin...
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Another huge improvement with my final design is the location of the annex and bathrooms. First,...
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The traffic flow for the new design is much more organized and efficient. As one could see on the...
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The seating arrangements for my design are very simple. Putting in the consideration that board...
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The second floor outdoor energy efficient green roof is my personal favorite part of the design....
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