Gilead Sciences
309 Velocity

Shortly after a multimillion dollar café renovation with another firm, Gilead and the operator noticed some flaws in the design causing pinch points and limiting consumer access to stations. In addition, they wanted to increase the space’s capacity. In order to provide the best solutions, a member of the elite|studio e Project Solutions team flew to California and observed the foodservice operation during its busiest hours. 

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A combination of several small changes have made a big difference at Gilead, including relocating a beverage counter, adding an eight-burner range next to the grill and extending the grill counter to the wall.

 

Renovations were also made to resolve the pinch points. The center salad bar was converted from a large circle with several feet of empty space in the middle to two rectangular islands. This removed the wasted space allowing customers to access the food from all sides. To improve flow at the entrance/exit, the cashiers were moved closer to one wall widening the space on one side for the entrance and allowing people to pay and leave on the other. Lastly, we added a micromarket outside the café equipped with a rapid cook oven, frozen yogurt machine and cold grab & go options. This solution draws some traffic away from the extremely busy main serving area and provides an on site, after-hours offering.

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With our national reach, team’s experience and attention to detail during the programming phase, the goals of the client and operator were achieved enhancing the function of the café.