Rockdale Housing Association, Sevenoaks, Kent Care Home kitchen

Caterplan were appointed by Rockdale Housing Association to extend and fully refurbish the kitchen and servery area within their ‘Beatrice Wilson’ common room.
The dining room & kitchen, also known as ‘The Pantry’, provides regular lunch time hot meals for residents living in the sheltered accommodation.  The dining facility forms part of a well-used social hub also providing the residents with other entertainment & clubs.
Caterplan’s scope of works included extensive structural & builder’s works to reconfigure the existing kitchen and knock through into an adjacent room to double the size of the kitchen.  A steel framework was designed by a structural engineer enabling us to create the required opening and support the building above.  Structural work was also undertaken to create new doorways and re-locate the position of the serving hatch to suit the new design.
A temporary kitchen was set up on site to enable the catering facilities to continue during the refurbishment.  The dining room was in full use throughout the works for both dining & social events which meant Caterplan had to be respectful of the residents at all times and stopped all noisy works during the lunch period.
The kitchen was fitted out with all the usual finishes such as Altro Whiterock wall cladding, Altro Stronghold vinyl flooring and a suspended ceiling.  We also fitted new FD60 1hr fire rated doors and fire shutter to the serving hatch as well as other safety features including an Ansul fire suppression system above the cooking equipment.
The main focus of extending the kitchen was to provide a more comfortable and efficient working environment.  The additional space enabled a pass-through dishwasher system to be installed which superseded the old front loading machine and drastically improved efficiency whilst also providing increased preparation area and storage;
This turnkey commercial kitchen refurbishment was completed within budget and handed over ready for use in late February 2019 adding another project to Caterplan’s vast experience within the Care Home sector.