The Brief
As part of this 5 Star Hotel’s large multi-million pound basement kitchen refurbishment project, we embarked on a full turn-key solution for their Pastry Kitchen.
This Pastry Kitchen would be serving multiple dining spaces within the hotel, including café, a la carte dining, afternoon tea, banqueting and a new retail and ecommerce offering, meaning the kitchen needs to deal with ultimate flexibility and capacity.
Services
Commercial Kitchen Design, Commercial Kitchen Installation
Location
Park Lane, London
Sector
Hotels
About 5 Star Hotel Pastry and Meat Kitchen
Located on Park Lane, this is one of London’s most iconic five star hotels offering various food and drink experiences, from a hotel run coffee shop and florist, to meeting and events, wellness facilities, wine vaults and Michelin-starred dinning.
The kitchen located in the basement was over 20 years old, previously installed by TAG, providing catering for The Promenade, banqueting, in-room dining and the chef’s table in the Krug Room.
The Solution
Our skilled team began work on this basement pastry kitchen in January 2020, three months before the COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown in March. The pastry kitchen would need to be ready in time for the hospitality sector to reopen to the public in July 2020, despite the site being shut down due to COVID.
Our in-house team of designers completed the full design for the two kitchens, including all refrigeration, technical, mechanical, and electrical drawings.
Before the installation of bespoke fabrication and new equipment could begin, we organized and carried out a complete strip out of the existing kitchen areas, recycling and disposing of waste materials.
Due to the site having no storage and very limited access, we required advanced planning for all deliveries and logistics to the basement kitchen. Deliveries were arranged for the day they were needed on a just-in-time basis.
We installed fully bespoke stainless steel and hygienic counters with granite and wood tops into the kitchen areas, designating stations for each purpose. This was followed by upgrades to the walls, floors, ceiling, lighting, and ventilation systems.
We installed a new energy-efficient remote refrigeration system to connect to the existing pack system, which we had previously supplied as part of the Basement Kitchen & Chef’s Table. We also installed new DeManincor cook suites, plus all other cooking equipment such as the new launched Rational iCombi Pro oven and a new MIWE deck oven.
We refurbished and reinstalled existing bakery equipment such as floor mixers, dough sheeters, and mincers, which helped to keep the client’s budget down and increase sustainability of the project.
We acted as the principal contractor for all phases of the basement kitchen refurbishment, not just the pastry kitchen. We managed directly employed teams, as well as client engineering and site contractors.
The Outcome
We are particularly pleased with our understanding and interpretation of the client’s requirements and the quality of workmanship and finish.
The improved design, layout and new equipment have meant the kitchen works much more efficiently, allowing the client to increase their covers; overall the kitchen is calmer and has a better working environment.
The project was delivered under challenging conditions, including COVID lockdowns and extended lead times on equipment, but was opened on-time and to budget.
With no additional changes, the kitchen now supports the new retail bakery space which opened in 2023, an additional and profitable revenue stream for the hotel.
