When the Indochinese Community Centre in Deptford (London) was in desperate need of modernising, everyday use and a fresh look were at the top of their community centre kitchen checklist.
That’s why they called Steelplan, and here’s the story of how Wei and his team transformed the kitchen in their community hub.
What’s the future of this community centre kitchen?
The Indochinese Community Centre has been supporting local residents hailing from South East Asia for over 40 years.
It is a welcoming place for young, old, and everyone in between, offering a regular day nursery, elderly support groups, and hosting ad-hoc events, functions and parties.
All of these services are catered, with a range of delicious home comforts, made by dedicated community centre members.
However, despite the team’s best efforts, they knew they needed a new kitchen to provide an even better food service for their growing number of visitors.
Why did this community centre want to change its kitchen?
The Indochinese Community Centre has occupied its current building since 1998, and the kitchen they ‘adopted’ hadn’t changed since.
When upgrading their kitchen, they had three main ambitions in mind:
- Modernising their kitchen’s appliances
- Making their kitchen look aesthetical
- Replacing fragile, unhygienic cabinets that were difficult to maintain
When they received an email from Steelplan, they reached out, and work on the project started to take shape.
Why did the community centre choose Steelplan to design and install its new kitchen?
Wei and his team already knew that Steelplan’s semi-commercial kitchen could be the right replacement for their outdated community centre kitchen. Durable, modern and vibrant, it would tick off their three key needs for a new kitchen.
However, having been burned during a previous project to upgrade their kitchen, they needed absolute trust in Steelplan.
This is why, when Martin and the Steelplan team reached out to offer its free design and consultation service – which provided Wei with a full 3D visualisation of the new kitchen they would receive – it gave him confidence to move forward with the project.
How was the community centre’s experience of the project?
While the team at the community centre knew they wanted to upgrade their kitchen, they needed support to get the details right, and someone to whom they could trust the project.
During this project, Steelplan:
- Designed the kitchen, providing both blueprints and a full 3D visualisation, which was refined based on the customer’s specifications
- Sourced all of the appliances needed for the kitchen
- Installed the kitchen with a local project team.
Being so hands-off, Wei was impressed at how reactive and attentive Martin and his team were – delivering what they said they would deliver.
What benefits has the new community centre kitchen had?
The community centre’s new kitchen has brought much-needed refreshed look to the kitchen while significantly improving the lifecycle issues that the previous kitchen had.
New cupboards replacing the old wooden cabinets are more sturdy and offer more storage, while upgrades to the sink and taps have made a fresher-looking and more hygienic wet area.
What’s more, size was a focus for Steelplan, which is why an expansion of the kitchen space has made the prospect of expanding their food service (and making the job of catering far simpler) a real possibility.
What’s the future of this community centre kitchen?
Wei is proud that the new kitchen will continue to provide a dependable food service to its regular visitors. However, with evening events welcoming as many as 200 people, he will now also have a kitchen that can provide delicious catering at its busiest events – something that will help turn newcomers into community regulars.
If your community centre is due an upgrade, and you want a durable, refreshed kitchen that will serve your community for decades to come, just ask for our free design and consultation service to see exactly what your new kitchen will look like.
It’s the start of a kitchen transformation process that will guide you every step of the way, making your exciting new kitchen project also the easiest upgrade to your community centre yet.
Get in touch here, or call us at 0208 254 0090
