Kitchen - heart of the office

Feels like home?

Kitchen – one of the most important places at home. Usually associated with moments of relaxation and nice smells. Very often it is a heart of home. It is a cozy and nice place where the meals are prepared and consumed. It is also a place of spontaneous conversations and bonding with others.

What happens when we leave our home and go to the office? Do office kitchens, like home kitchens, have different functions (eating, chatting)? Do they encourage us to drop by there because they are a nice place where we can eat something and meet our colleagues?

Unfortunately, that is not the way it always happens. The results of the In Design research held in the organizations before new office layout confirm that office kitchens require improvements.

During the research workers say that kitchens are often too small and there are not enough tables. As a result, number of the people that can be there at the same time to eat and maybe have a quick chat is limited. The other aspect pointed out frequently is the low quality equipment – for example the limited number of microwaves.

To sum up – not only do the kitchens usually fail to fulfill their basic functions of a place where meals could be prepared and consumed but also they don’t always encourage to meet others and have conversations. As a result, the integration in a company is hampered.

Kitchen - multifuncional place

Modern office kitchens have different functions – the place where the meals can be consumed, the place where information can be exchanged, the place of meetings. To put it short – they are a place where workers come back with pleasure and that one that is a good mark of a company.  

The need to create the multifunctional spaces in offices is being noticed more clearly and frequently. The relaxation areas, including kitchens, are examples of such spaces. They increase the level of life quality at work and allow to have a breather during an intense day.

Modern kitchen

How the kitchen can be arranged?

In Design project of the kitchen for Connect Medica

One of the ideas can be the a kitchen with a long bench. Thanks to that, a lot of people can be seated at the able at the same time – it encourages integration. Additionally, there is an informal meeting space and relaxation area. The kitchen is not separated with the wall from the communication route. It is separated by the curtain (it is drawn on the picture). It encourages meetings and conversations.

Another idea can be the kitchen with a slightly more cozy layout, with tables for 4 people. This arrangement creates more intimate vibe of the place. One can also have a lunch at the individual spot.

In Design project of the kitchen for Deloitte

Design and the functionality of the kitchen can vary. Kitchen can serve as a place of preparing and consuming the meals/beverages, the place of informal meetings with colleagues, the place for business meetings as well as relaxation area and the place of work and cooperation.

The kitchen layout is one of the elements of the In Design research. The vision of the new kitchen is created based on the ideas of the employed and the general expectations connected with the change of the office layout.

The change in the ways of perceiving the kitchen in the office

The current materials gathered during the research held by In Design confirm the overall change in the way the office kitchen is perceived (all the conclusions concern the offices before the change of office layout). Not only should it be functional (place where the meals/beverages can be prepared and consumed) and comfortable (proper equipment and interesting design) but also it should be a cozy and friendly space that encourages and facilitates relaxation and meetings.

„Big” and „integrating” – that is how the kitchen space is usually imagined by those taking part in the workplace research. The examples of kitchen shown above show that the kitchen arrangement can be diverse. The details concerning what exactly “big” and “integrating” mean are a parts of In Design research.

Kitchen - heart of the office

The change in the ways the kitchen is perceived is connected with the change in the way the office is perceived. The office is supposed to be a place where we could find the quiet work areas, areas dedicated to cooperation as well as the relaxation and integration areas, informal meeting spaces such as chill out rooms and kitchens.

This layout creates a possibility for the workers to choose the place they want to be in and the one that suits their needs best (for example the needs connected with the type of the tasks they have to carry out) – and it does not matter if it is conference room, focus room or the armchair where one can relax for a while.