Library café kitchen — this case study by Kent Commercial Kitchens.
Case study · Other sectors
Plumstead Library, London
Specifically, Library café kitchen — Library café fit-out in Plumstead, South East London — bespoke servery counter built and installed in-house, Gaggia espresso machine, heated display cabinet, Victor refrigerated multideck and full café equipment installation.
Client
Plumstead Library
Location
Plumstead, London
Project value
£50k–£100k
The brief
Library café kitchen: café space inside a working public library
Plumstead Library is a busy public library in South East London, serving the local community seven days a week. The brief was to create a fully operational café within the library building — a bespoke servery counter, coffee station and display equipment fitted out to a standard appropriate for a high-footfall public venue, delivered without disrupting the library's operation.
Building works, joinery, equipment supply and installation all carried out in-house. Counter designed and built at our Folkestone workshop and transported to site for installation.
What we did
Full café fit-out, in-house
Building works and servery construction
Structural building works carried out to create the servery area within the existing library footprint. Bespoke serving counter designed, fabricated and installed — built to suit the space and the operational requirements of a self-service library café.
Coffee station and equipment
Gaggia espresso machine installed as the anchor of the coffee offer. Full under-counter plumbing and electrical connections to support the coffee station. Heated display cabinet for hot food service. Victor refrigerated multideck for chilled food and drink display — appropriate for a self-service café environment with high customer throughput.
Café seating area
Café seating area fitted out as part of the wider project — creating a defined customer space within the library that complements the servery and encourages dwell time.
Equipment specified
Specified for a public café operation
- Gaggia espresso machine — coffee station anchor
- Victor refrigerated multideck — chilled food and drink display
- Heated display cabinet — hot food service
- Bespoke servery counter — designed and fabricated in-house
- Full plumbing and electrical installation — coffee station services
The installation
Inside the finished café
The outcome
A working café inside a public library
Plumstead Library opened with a fully operational café — bespoke counter, coffee offer and chilled and hot food display, all delivered in-house from our Folkestone base. A direct appointment, out of our usual Kent patch, demonstrating that the team travels for the right project.
- CEDA Member The Catering Equipment Distributors Association — UK's voice for foodservice equipment specialists.
- ISO 9001 · 14001 · 45001 Certified The only Kent commercial kitchen design-and-install firm certified to all three.
- F-Gas Certified Certified to handle and install refrigerants in commercial refrigeration and cooling equipment.
- Gas Safe Registered All commercial gas installations carried out by Gas Safe registered engineers.
- Part of Advantage Catering Equipment Kent's design, supply and service specialists since 2003.
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