As we start our first conceptual designs, we are all facing a huge question, “How are we going to fabricate and transport our commercial kitchen to site?” This is a very daunting question indeed, considering we would prefer to fabricate almost everything off site and then transport and quickly assemble on site. So, how are we going to do this?
Well, at this moment, we do not have a definitive answer for this! We have several considerations and possibilities to go with, each having their own pros and cons. First, we have cargotecture, which was written about last week by Jamie. Being able to have a pre-made shell allows us to focus more on the interior and layout of the kitchen itself. Another advantage would be the “easy” transportation of the unit to the site; it is called a shipping container for a reason. However, there are several inherent problems with shipping containers that we would have to address including cost, reinforcement, and cleanliness of the container.
We have also looked at using a mobile home frame or base to build off of. The thick, steel base would give us a great foundation and a clear footprint to follow. However, procuring the base of a demolished mobile home is actually quite hard to come by. Either the base is in good enough shape to be reused or they are ruined and directly sent to scrap metal facilities. In a world were mobile homes are around every corner, you’d think we would be able to have access to one.
From there we are left with fabricating our own mobile foundation and trying to cover all bases with transportation and fabrication. This may seem like the worst option, but this could allow us the most flexibility with both form and function of the kitchen. However, it may not be the most possible with the amount of labor and time that would be needed for this.
So, this leaves us where we are now. Where should we go from here? What should we look at for inspiration? Are we crazy to take on such a formidable project with so many variables? The answers are still foggy on all these questions, but they are getting clearer by the day. As we move forward in our conceptual design we cannot allow ourselves to be stuck in “the box” of the shipping container or truck bed. This is the time to let all thoughts spill out on trace paper and napkins and create something, out of nothing.