Constructing a Large Scale Modular Kitchen

Here’s a sneak preview of a large scale, open plan, temporary kitchen facility which is going out on hire this week. This particular facility comprises 35 units and was constructed here at PKL HQ before being disassembled into individual units, covered ready for transport and loaded onto trucks, ready to be installed on the client’s site. The facility is currently being reassembled at the client’s location, ready for final commissioning and handover.

A facility of this size really illustrates the benefits of off-site construction. The main build of the facility took place here at PKL HQ, including all the mechanical and electrical fit-outs as well as the installation of extraction canopies and catering equipment. Due to the size of the facility, it’s taken several weeks to build, but because all this work has been undertaken at PKL, there has been no disruption to the client. The rebuilding of the facility at the client’s site is now quite straightforward, and should only take a few days craning the units into position, ready for the internal reassembly. 

With a footprint of over 500m² this is a substantial facility, and will be on hire for 6 months during a major kitchen refurbishment. Three plant rooms are located on the roof, above the Central Island Canopies. These rooms house the extraction fans and the boiler for the tempered air, and also ensure that there are no roof leaks where the extraction penetrates the ceiling.

This type of large scale facility is typically specified for use during major refurbishment works at busy sites such as prisons, hospitals and universities, which have large catering operations which need to be maintained.

PKL Contingency Week – Part 2

Public sector institutions such as schools, hospitals and prisons are often heavily reliant on their catering facilities, with many people depending on them. It can therefore be disastrous when a loss of catering capability occurs. By having a kitchen contingency plan in place, you can ensure that you have a temporary replacement facility on site within a matter of hours, in the case of an emergency occurring.

Many public sector sites have already got personalised kitchen contingency plans in place with us, but if you haven’t got one yet don’t worry! We can provide you with a bespoke kitchen contingency plan completely free of charge – just fill out this quick online form to tell us about your current catering operation, and we’ll send you a personalised contingency plan based on this information.

Case Study: School Fire
When a large fire destroyed a school, the entire school was reopened in temporary buildings while the damaged buildings were rebuilt. PKL provided the school kitchen facility as part of this temporary structure, enabling the continuation of school meal provision to pupils and staff.

Case Study: Prison Kitchen Loss
When a large prison experienced a problem with the gas supply to its kitchen, PKL supplied an all-electric temporary kitchen facility to maintain catering provision in the meantime. For prisons, kitchen contingency planning is especially important, as inmates often cannot leave site to go elsewhere for food, so are entirely reliant on the prison kitchen to receive their meals.

Case Study: School Arson
Several years ago, PKL supplied an emergency kitchen to a school that had suffered an arson attack during the summer holidays, completely destroying existing facilities on site. The temporary kitchen complex we provided was a large facility which was successfully installed ready for the start of term. It stayed on site for 18 months while the school kitchen was rebuilt, and offered all the capabilities of the original school kitchen. To read more on this case study, click here.

Our temporary facilities are also ideal for use during planned kitchen closures, to keep your catering operation running smoothly during refurbishments or other works. If you have any upcoming refurbishments or other kitchen closures planned, please don’t hesitate to get in touch, and I can advise you on suitable temporary facilities to provide cover for this period.

5 ways PKL can ease your hospital kitchen problems

In this post, John Steward, Manager of our Long Term Hire Division, blogs about our temporary hospital kitchens.

As PKL’s hospital kitchen hire specialist, I have extensive experience of arranging temporary kitchen hires for hospitals. There are many reasons why a hospital may require temporary kitchen facilities, such as during planned refurbishments or emergencies such as fire or flood.

Kitchen facilities play a vital role in hospitals and I know the unique set of challenges faced by hospitals requiring temporary facilities. With that in mind, I’ve addressed the top 5 challenges and concerns that hospitals often come to us with when they need temporary kitchen facilities.

I hope this post will give you an insight into how we can help hospitals. Please feel free to get in touch if you’d like to discuss your requirements of if you’d like me to prepare a free bespoke kitchen contingency plan for you.

1.    Specialist Kitchen Facilities
From my experience working within the acute care hospital sector, I know that many hospital kitchens have to produce food to specific dietary requirements. The exact facilities required can vary from hospital to hospital, and is vitally important for the health and wellbeing of patients.

We have a fleet of over 10,000 items of catering equipment and can work closely with hospital catering teams and dietary staff to provide each hospital with a temporary kitchen facility which is matched with the menu requirements. In the past, our specialist facilities have included temperature-controlled prep areas for the preparation of high risk meals, as well as facilities for the sterilisation of crocks and utensils.

2.    Noise and Disruption on Site
No hospital wants teams of shouting workmen on site, mess and dirt everywhere or roads blocked for hours on end. That sounds like a nightmare to me too, so you’ll be pleased to know that we have polite, efficient drivers and engineers who are able to deliver our units at times to suit you, including evenings or weekends if preferred. We also plan delivery and installation in advance, which means our experienced team can get facilities installed quickly and efficiently, causing minimum disruption on site.
 
3.    Quality and Reliability
When your staff and patients are relying on kitchen facilities to keep them well-fed, you’ll want to be sure that these facilities aren’t going to let you down. Not only are our kitchens purpose-built units designed specifically for catering use, they also contain commercial catering equipment which consists of trusted, professional brands. All units and items of equipment undergo thorough, regular maintenance to prevent breakdowns, and we can also supply our facilities with back-up generators which will kick in should power be lost, keeping the kitchen running without disruption.

4.    Safety and Compliance
New clients often have questions about the suitability and safety aspects of portable kitchens, so here’s the info you need to know. Our kitchens are manufactured to the highest standard and incorporate the latest health and safety features. Features include a ventilation canopy, auto gas shut off, automatic fire suppression system, easy clean extraction system, infestation-proof construction, 500 lux lighting level, food-safe plastisol steel wall lining, non-slip safety flooring, and insulated fire regulated wall panels, ceilings and floors. Our kitchens also have food-safe wipe clean walls and stainless steel catering equipment, providing a hygienic, easy to clean food preparation environment.

5.    Support and Service
I know that hospital kitchens are used from first thing in the morning to last thing at night, so we offer a level of service to support this. Our service and technical support lines are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and we can dispatch an engineer immediately should a kitchen emergency occur. Additionally, an engineer will be with you within 24 hours of all standard service callouts, and any minor matters will be attended to as soon as we have an engineer in the area.

Healthcare Kitchen Solutions

PKL provide a wide range of temporary kitchens and catering equpiment for the healthcare sector, to cover planned kitchen refurbishments, to provide extra capcity during peaks in foodservice demand or to provide catering facilities at short notice in emergencies.

We have supplied a wide range of solutions to both public and private hospitals, ranging from temporary staff and visitor restaurant facilities, to complete managed kitchens, to emergency cold rooms when freezers have suddenly gone down.

PKL is also vastly experienced in providing solutions to the residential care sector. We have developed the Care Home Kitchen, a unit which can produce anywhere from 15-250 meals per day.

Contingency planning is often a must within the healthcare sector, with a detailed contingency plan often requirement in hosptial and care home kitchens. PKL provides a free contingeny planning guide, which is available upon request by email or hard copy.

PKL is a Buying Solutions registered company, meaning that we are pre tendered to supply public sector and government contracts.

For more information regarding PKL’s healthcare kitchen solutions, please click here.