Cafeteria Design Guide | Architectural Design

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Design considerations for a Cafeteria | Architectural Design Guide

We all know what a Cafeteria is like.

It is a hangout place where we all have tea, coffee and some snacks. That is all that the place provides.

Why is it important to know the function of the structure you are designing?

At the beginning of your Architectural course, you might not be very well versed with understanding the importance of  studying the function of the structure before you would want to design it.

Cafeteria in a Corporate Office
Cafeteria in a Corporate Office

So remember, UNDERSTAND and ANALYZE THE FUNCTION AND CIRCULATION BEFORE YOU DESIGN!

Step by step guide to designing a cafeteria:

Here, we will discuss the detailed steps to be followed in order to design a cafeteria.

Step One:

Visit a cafeteria. Are you finding it strange?? Well, you are bound to find it weird since you have visited the cafeteria like a thousand times.

But, this time when you visit the cafeteria, perceive it with an Architect’s point of view.

For now, you are an architecture student but you will soon become an Architect.

Alright now, let’s come to the point.

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Passenger Information Displays | HSR Station Design

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Design of Passenger Information Display

Stations are well equipped with Information systems. They are also referred to as a Passenger System (PIS) or Passenger Information Display. These information systems are essential since they guide the passengers on the station. They inform the passengers of where the trains are going.

The most common complaint of the passengers on the station is the lack of accurate information. This gets the passengers really frustrated and results in a spoilt experience.

It is very important to train the staff members of the ways to use the latest system so that they have all the latest information and data required which would help them answer the questions of the passengers satisfactorily.

When any staff member is asked a question about the train arrivals, departures or any other information, the staff member should be able to give apt and accurate reply. If he is not aware and does not have the latest information, he would start guessing. And nothing is more annoying than this to the passengers.

Where and how should the Information Displays be placed?

The placement of the information displays plays a very important role in the efficient functioning of the Train stations.

They should be placed in public areas for easy visibility by passengers. Care should be taken to make sure that the visibility of the displays is not affected by the changing weather conditions of the place.

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Technological Revolution in Interior and Architectural Design

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Influence of Technology on Architecture

The changes in economic conditions and the advancement in technology have resulted in changing the lifestyle of the people considerably. People seemed to have changed their way of living, the way they entertain themselves, spend their money, interact at work etc. This condition is not only evident in a particular country as such but this change is coming globally.

Today, interior designing is revising its design rules and principles. People are going for multi-functional furniture units, compact places to live in. This does not mean that they don’t love variety anymore. It is just that they want to make everything flexible enough to be used and converted as required. The advancement in technology has indeed brought a huge change in the field of design.

Let us discuss all that we are seeing today and also the reason for this transformation.

Increasingly less defined spaces

If we are to look into this particular aspect, we would notice that the way spaces were designed earlier with a specific purpose of its space allocation (rigid planning) has changed. People are now preferring flexible planning i.e. multi-functional spaces. This is more evident in the west since this trend is not very pronounced in Asia. In India and China, people are still conservative about planning their private spaces.

Multifunctional Spaces | Increasingly less defined spaces
Multifunctional Spaces | Increasingly less defined spaces

How did this multi-functionality trend develop?

Earlier, economic crisis that struck Europe led to the decrease in the incomes of the people. People began living at homes since they did not have offices to attend. Lifestyle started changing. People started preferring eating at home since it was less costly, entertaining themselves and just being. This brought the need for more investment into the living spaces. This “OPENNESS CONCEPT” began with the concept of having an open kitchen. Now, if we look at the interiors of the homes today, we can call them “Open Homes”.

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Station Design Guide | Architectural Design Considerations

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Design of Rail Stations | Architecture and Design

In our previous article, “HSR Station design Guide“, we listed out some of the core station areas and discussed the design considerations to be taken while designing “Station Crossings” and “Platform design”.

Important Station areas to be designed:

Now we will move on with our discussion on the design considerations to be taken for the following station areas (elements):

  • Platforms doors and screens
  • Entrances and Exits
  • Direction of the opening of doors

Design of Platforms doors and screens

Modern metro systems have incorporated glazed screens along the edges of the platform.

This system of designing screen doors was incorporated in cold countries in order to maintain the temperature of the station.

These kind of screen door systems have been used in Europe and America. The underground station in London is pretty popular. The extension of the underground station has been worked on with a point to introduce the platform screen doors. See the picture of the Canary Wharf station in London.

Design of Station entrances and Exits

The width of the entrances and exits should be large enough to allow efficient circulation of a large number of passengers in and out. They must be designed keeping the emergency conditions in mind.

Every country has its own safety codes for the design of entrances and exits.

Apart from concentrating on the width of the entrances, it is necessary to remember that we are architectural designers and making the entrances aesthetically appealing is also our aim.

The number of entrances have to be carefully designed so as to cater for the different sides of the railway route and at the same time, the design should be economical. It should not exceed the calculated budget.

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