The Backyard - Coach Lane West Café Refurbishment

The Coach Lane West Café refurbishment was the final piece in the jigsaw that included significant investment in the creation of a new entrance to Coach Lane West in 2013 and the refurbishment of C Block Ground Floor in 2014. The capital investment in the café transformation alone was £500,000.

The University are aware that unlike City Campus, Coach Lane does not offer the number or range of alternative catering venues. Combined with the very high peaks and troughs in service experienced at Coach Lane due to the pressures on the timetable, this lead to the need for a venue designed around the ability to serve great food, to a lot of customers, and have the ability to change the menu regularly.

customer focused design

The formerly oversized and labour extensive back kitchen had been untouched since the 1960s, resulting in a squashed and congested dining area. Working closely with catering designers, the staff and catering managers, a new scheme was designed to drastically reallocate space to the customers and provide an efficient design for the kitchen staff. The dining area was extended by 156 m2 and the kitchen reduced by 156 m2 creating a 65/35 split in floor area in favour of the customers.

In addition to the increased the amount of seating, we changed the format of the counters to allow for a much quicker service and opened up the space as an area that can be used all day. The food offer has also been enhanced with the addition of an authentic pizza oven, a rotisserie grill, a salad bar and interchangeable hot food counters to give flexibility and choice up to date with the latest food trends.

Sustainability/Carbon Management Key Points:

• The old gas equipment was removed and new high efficiency electrical catering equipment was installed.
• All the lighting in the servery and dining areas was replaced with new LED fittings.