Knowledge
Planning figures, answers and terms.
Reference material for owners, architects, engineers, PMCs and operators planning kitchens, laundries and back-of-house. Figures are indicative. Every VCD programme is built from the project's own covers, cuisines and service styles.
- Heart of house (HOH)
- The operational areas of a hotel that guests do not see: kitchens, laundry, stores, receiving, staff facilities and engineering. Also called back of house.
- Back of house (BOH)
- Same as heart of house. The working areas behind the guest-facing spaces.
- Front of house (FOH)
- Guest-facing areas: restaurants, bars, lobby, banquet halls.
- Area programme
- A schedule listing every BOH space with its required area, prepared before layouts are drawn.
- Adjacency plan
- A diagram showing which spaces must sit next to each other, and which must be kept apart, for food, linen, waste and staff to move efficiently.
- Block load
- The total electrical, gas, water, drainage and exhaust capacity a facility needs, issued early so MEP consultants can reserve it.
- Clean and dirty flow
- The separation of routes for fresh goods and finished food from routes for soiled items, returns and waste. Paths should not cross.
- Receiving
- The dock where goods arrive, are checked, weighed and sent to stores.
- Main kitchen
- The central production kitchen that prepares food for several outlets.
- Satellite kitchen
- A smaller kitchen next to an outlet that finishes food prepared in the main kitchen.
- Finishing kitchen
- A kitchen beside a banquet hall where food is plated and held before service.
- Show kitchen
- A kitchen, or part of one, in full view of guests. Also display kitchen.
- Central kitchen / commissary
- An off-site production facility supplying several outlets or brands.
- Flight kitchen
- An airline catering production unit with security-sealed, time-stamped, audited flows.
- Pass
- The counter where finished dishes are checked and handed from kitchen to service staff.
- Cold chain
- Continuous refrigerated storage and handling from receiving to service.
- Blast chiller
- Equipment that cools cooked food rapidly through the temperature range where bacteria multiply.
- Make-up air
- Fresh air supplied to a kitchen to replace air removed by exhaust hoods.
- Ventilated ceiling
- A kitchen ceiling system that combines exhaust, supply air and lighting across the cooking area in place of individual hoods.
- Wall, plinth and recess drawing
- A civil drawing showing the plinths, floor recesses and wall provisions equipment needs.
- Open-brand specification
- An equipment specification written by performance, not manufacturer, so several vendors can bid.
- BOQ
- Bill of quantities. The itemised list of equipment and works used for tendering and costing.
- Techno-commercial evaluation
- A comparison of vendor bids for technical compliance and price.
- Shop drawing
- A fabrication or installation drawing prepared by the vendor and reviewed by the consultant.
- HACCP
- Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points. The food-safety system kitchen layouts are planned to support.
- FSSAI
- Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, which sets hygiene requirements for food premises in India.
- OPL (on-premise laundry)
- A laundry inside the hotel, as opposed to an outsourced or central laundry.
- Covers
- The number of guests a restaurant or banquet seats or serves.
- Key
- A hotel room or suite. Key count is the number of rooms.
- Staff dining / cafeteria
- The canteen where hotel employees eat, sized by staff count and shift pattern.