If you are putting together a plan to transform the kitchen at your community centre or church hall, it can be difficult to know where to start.

Many people ask us ‘what material should I use?’, ‘will I need big commercial appliances?’ or even, simply, ‘what colour should I choose?’

That’s where the help of a professional kitchen project design manager – like Steelplan Kitchens’ Martin Shew – can help you make the perfect decision for your community centre or church kitchen.

We caught up with him to ask him about some of the burning questions we regularly get – and you will see why having the support of someone as experienced as Martin can help make your kitchen transformation a success.

Profile

Name: Martin Shew

Role: Project Design Manager

Experience with Steelplan: 25 years

Previous Roles: Kitchen Manufacturing, Kitchen Design

Favourite Steelplan Finish: Red (for Arsenal FC) or Paprika (for how well it blends with laminate white worktops).

Martin, can you tell us about your role at Steelplan?

I’m Steelplan Kitchen’s Project Design Manager, which means I have the pleasure of visiting people in community centres and churches when they enquire about installing a new Steelplan Kitchen.

In a normal visit, I will speak with the staff, learn about what they do, which people use their kitchen, and most importantly, what they want from their new kitchen.

Why do most people want to update their church or community centre’s kitchen?

In my experience, it’s usually because many people running churches and community centres are looking to future-proof them for the next generation.

They may have inherited an old wooden kitchen that they know won’t last another 20 years, so they want to replace it with one that will.

Is that the only reason?

That’s the main reason, but it’s not the only one.

They might be looking particularly at revenue – specifically, where kitchens can generate revenue when they take bookings from external groups or private hire.

As you will know, birthday and wedding venues can be very expensive: the community centre I personally support has a months-long waiting list for private hire, simply because we have a fantastic kitchen and an excellent space for a much more accessible price than a venue like a golf club.

Is there anything unique about designing kitchens for churches and community centres?

There are a few things. The best one is that people at church halls and community centres are often very friendly, so it’s easy to build good relationships based on honesty and trust.

Secondly, many people in these positions tend to assume that because they are looking at a kitchen with steel elements, they will need to upgrade all their appliances (to industrial-grade cookers and dishwashers, for example).

They are often surprised when we show them how elements like ceramic hobs, laminate worktops and compact built-in ovens can look brilliant and work seamlessly in a steel kitchen.

Do many of the people you visit know a lot about kitchens when they start a design project?

There’s a mixture of people, as you would expect. Plenty don’t have that background – but they don’t have to know, either.

We find that the most effective way of helping anyone, regardless of how much or how little they are clued in, is to simply show them other examples of kitchens we have provided at venues like theirs: particularly if they are local, so they can see them in person.

We like to show off our newest installations to give them the best idea of what they can expect – but there’s a kitchen we completed at a Potter’s Bar community centre roughly 19 years ago, and we will still refer people to it, because it has remained in such good condition.

Is there anything else that they might not know about a steel kitchen?

As I touched on earlier, a lot of people are replacing wooden kitchens where the doors are hanging off or they have needed to drill 10 different hinge holes in the carcass.

They know that a more durable material, like stainless steel or mild steel, will be right in the long term, but they sometimes ask questions about design or worry that it’s not for their budget.

From my perspective, we like to suggest options at all budget levels, and you can add a lot of flexibility in design when you use Steelplan’s vibrant finishes or mix in a laminate worktop.

Those are still rot- and heat- resistant, but they are leaps and bounds ahead of the kind of laminate worktop used 20 years ago, and a kitchen design partner knows better than anyone else what will and won’t work in your kitchen.

Last of all, if a community or church has an upcoming kitchen project, what do they need to know about Steelplan?

All they need to know is that it’s so easy to get started. After I have visited to learn about them and their wants for their kitchen, I take measurements of their space and draw up simple plans.

After that, I work with the CAD design team to transform it into a 3D model of the new kitchen – and that whole ‘design and consultation’ process is entirely free, so I would encourage them to reach out to learn how they can take advantage.

They can then choose Steelplan to install the kitchen or another contractor they trust to install it following the design: it’s really as simple as that.

We would like to thank Martin for his time

If you are interested in transforming your church or community centre kitchen, it’s so easy to reach out to Steelplan and see a semi-commercial kitchen brought to life in your space with a 3D visualisation – absolutely free. Just contact us online or call 020 8254 0090 to learn more.