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Lisa Lister

2021: Predicting Trends in Restaurant Design

January 21, 2021 by Lisa Lister Leave a Comment

Do you miss having a meal at your favorite restaurant? I sure do! When we can confidently walk through the doors of our favorite dining spot, what changes will we see?

For restaurants to survive during the pandemic owners were forced to pivot, and designers were looked upon for quick solutions.  Expect some of the quick solutions mentioned below to evolve into spectacular restaurant design trends in the new year.

Here is What to Expect:

  1. Customers will experience less contact. Dine-in locations during the pandemic are depending upon digital platforms to share the menu, offer specials, and provide contactless payment. These changes are expected to stay, allowing for cost savings (saved printing expense for menus & specials), allowing expedited payment, tracking of customer favorites, and greater access to a rewards program for reoccurring customers.
  2. Fast-casual restaurants will be smaller and more convenient. Typically, every 10 years food chains renovate their current design.  They may be changes to interior finishes and lay-out, digitally enhanced experiences, or even a remodeled exterior. As a result of current pandemic conditions, some enhancements are being expedited, and some locations are even considering eliminating indoor seating all together, hoping to lead to a more efficient and cost-effective model.
  3. Platform based food hall design is expected to thrive while still evolving. The pandemic made it impossible for individuals to utilize dine in food halls. The successful food halls pivoted to a digital platform for take-out and delivery. Now, we can digitally order an egg roll as an appetizer, a pizza for dinner, and a cannoli for dessert.  Watch for this design to expand post COVID, while continuing to evolve with our new purchasing and experience habits.
  4. Generation Z will be followed and targeted by corporate establishments. Corporate has noticed the massive popularity of TikTok. Dunkin Donuts has built an entire marketing campaign around one of the most followed TikTok accounts, with reportedly 84.8 million followers. Wow; that is lot of Dunkin and TikTok togetherness!

In summary the good news is dining out (and in!) is here to stay.  The even better news is that next time you check out that new local restaurant or go where you are known on a first name basis, changes of comfort and convenience will be integrated into your experience.

If you are ready to start the design process of your dream restaurant (that you have finally decided to act on), contact us here at JL Architects.  Our 30+ years of expertise in restaurant design can help your dream become a success.

Filed Under: Commercial, Food and Beverage Tagged With: architect, architectural services, architecture, building renovation, commercial architect, nationally licensed architect, restaurant architecture

In the Age of COVID – A Successful Roll-out Overcomes Barriers

January 14, 2021 by Lisa Lister Leave a Comment

Over the past two years, JL has had the pleasure of working alongside RJP Consulting Group to help Select Medical with the roll-out of their physical therapy sites throughout the United States.  We have worked through changes, and challenges that have come with the normal development of a project as well as the added obstacles of working through a pandemic. JL’s 32+ years of experience has been especially helpful during COVID in obtaining entitlements and permits in towns and cities where many of the technical staff and plan reviewers are remote and often not available by phone.

JL and RJP have worked together to rearrange tasks and find ways to achieve time savings and paperwork reductions that have allowed Select Medical to meet their expansion goals.  This has led to on-schedule unit openings, brand integrity, and predictable construction costs.

We are excited to have completed our 20th project for Select Medical and look forward to continued growth together.

Filed Under: Commercial, COVID-19 Tagged With: architect, architectural services, architecture, building renovation, commercial architect, nationally licensed architect

Food Banks Need Our Support

November 25, 2020 by Lisa Lister Leave a Comment

As coronavirus continues to surge across the country, more and more Americans are turning to food banks, many of them for the first time. The holidays traditionally include festive gatherings and large meals that many people will not be able to afford this year.

Prior to the pandemic, about 10.5% of US households were food insecure (having limited or uncertain access to food) at some point in 2019. Now, that number has more than doubled. Today on average, about 22.5% of households are food insecure each week, and for minority households, the rates are typically much higher.

As of the end of October, 80% of food banks are serving more people than they were at this same time last year, according to Feeding America, the largest charitable food assistance network in the country. They report distributing approximately 4.2 billion meals so far in 2020.

Additionally, it’s more difficult for food banks to fundraise during the pandemic, especially for smaller local locations. That said, food banks have been and will continue to be there for their neighbors through the holidays.

“If there was ever a time to work together to help our world, it certainly is now,” said Trish Faidiga of Advantage Building & Facility Services in West Chester, PA. They, along with JL Architects, TD&H Engineering, and Old Forge Builders are teaming up with their client, Goshen Executive Center in West Chester, PA, to support food banks across our area. To help out, please donate to our Philabundance virtual food drive. Philabundance is the Delaware Valley’s largest hunger relief organization, acquiring, rescuing, and distributing food to 90,000 people weekly in nine counties in PA and NJ.

How can you help if you want to do more than donate to our virtual food drive? Feeding American suggests the following:

  • Food banks need volunteer support to keep food programs running. Make a difference in-person or online and volunteer today.
  • Send a message to the front-line food bank workers and volunteers helping our neighbors every day to say thank you for all of their hard work during this time.
  • Families across the country need more support to get meals – and fast. Support emergency relief today by becoming an advocate.

This holiday season may we come together to support the needs of our community, while staying safe and taking the necessary steps to maintain our health and wellness. Together, we will get through this pandemic!

Filed Under: Company News Tagged With: architect, architectural services, architecture, commercial architect, nationally licensed architect

Happy Thanksgiving from JL Architects

November 23, 2020 by Lisa Lister Leave a Comment

Thank you for your continued support!

On Thanksgiving and every day, we are thankful to have clients and partners like you. While this has been a memorable year, we hope that you have an unforgettable holiday with your loved ones.

This year families are in greater need than ever before. Please consider joining our Goshen Executive Center project team in making a donation to support families across the greater Philadelphia area this holiday season: Click Here To Donate

Please note that our office will be closed on
Thursday, November, 26, 2020, and Friday, November 27, 2020

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours. Be safe. Be well.
– JL Architects

Filed Under: Company News, Uncategorized Tagged With: architect, architectural services, architecture, commercial architect, nationally licensed architect

Urban Redevelopment- From Retail to Mixed Use

August 24, 2020 by Lisa Lister Leave a Comment

M.S Yearsley and Sons, a True Value hardware store and John Deere franchise opened in 1917 and served the West Chester community from a series of attached 19th century buildings. In 2006 they relocated and the real estate was purchased for redevelopment. This project is a reflection of JL Architects history in mixed -use and infill projects. Today, the site is home to 88 apartments, over 20,000 sf of ground floor retail and restaurants, and over 100 off-street parking spaces.
To achieve that density and increased value, JL Architects supported the team in obtaining zoning changes and adjustments, Historic Review Board approval and the blessing of the community. Those efforts resulted in a site density increase of 100% over its prior allowance.
Our support came in the form of building and zoning code research and analysis, master planning, feasibility studies, sun studies, and expert witness testimony.
The property is now owned and managed by Hankin Group and was constructed by Pancoast and Clifford.

Filed Under: Commercial, Multi-Family, Retail Tagged With: architect, architectural services, architecture, building efficiency, building renovation, commercial architect, nationally licensed architect, retail architect, sustainable design

Modern Innovations Emerging in Today’s Early Childhood Education Facilities

August 13, 2020 by Lisa Lister Leave a Comment

As parents continue to return to the workplace, young children are heading back to the early childhood classroom.  Are the design considerations of our early childhood facilities keeping up with the ever-changing requirements of today’s COVID social distancing society? Most professionals in the industry think their facilities could use an update.

“Taking into consideration potential updates that could be made to your existing or new facility is an important piece of the puzzle,” said Nick Pape, COO of Old Forge Builders, who specializes in the construction of early childhood education facilities. “Facility design and construction is as critical as top-of-the-line educational programs for success, more recently around safety, wellness, and technology.”

What should you consider as you plan to update your existing or plan your new early childhood education facility?

Establish Goals for a New or Renovated Center

  • Help ensure the final product fully meets your needs by describing things such as how you want the center to feel and function and the type of atmosphere you hope to create

Have your Architect Evaluate Your Existing Center (when renovating, or adding locations)

  • An architect needs to understand how you currently use your center and determine what you like/don’t like about it, so be sure to think about how different functions and activities occur and what changes you should make to have a more effective environment in your new facility

Check Out the Competition

  • Visit newly constructed facilities and high-quality spaces to pay careful attention to design features that appeal to you, interview staff

Interview Potential “Users” of your New Center

  • Gather sufficient input from those who will ultimately use the facility: parents, teachers, support staff, administrators, and children to identify and prioritize needs

Plan

  • Remember to plan for potential program growth or other trends that might affect your facility’s plans

Identify Your Center’s Specific Needs

  • Think about your center’s total population, the number of children you hope to serve as well as the number of adults who will use the space
  • Consider how children will interact in the physical space and provide your architect with specifics regarding children’s ages, head count, need for spaces with distinct use, spaces that should be adjacent to one another, etc.
  • Plan for more than the required square footage by state licensing standards to ensure that you have the amount of usable space you will need today and in the future
  • Allow for at least 50 SF per child of useable classroom space for preschool-age children and even more for infants and toddlers

Identify Each Type of Use Space

  • Classrooms: Specify the types of features you would like to have in each classroom, such as child size bathrooms, windows, counters/cabinets, access to the outdoors, etc.
  • Staff: Staff needs may include things such as secure storage for personal belongings, phones/intercoms in rooms, work areas in classrooms, convenient storage for classroom supplies and materials, staff break and resource rooms, and more.
  • Offices: Plan for the number of staff who need private office space and the types of activities that will take place in the various offices
  • Kitchen: Decide early in the process how you plan to use the kitchen and communicate this with your architect.
  • Miscellaneous: Consider other types of spaces you should provide for adults using your center, such as adult bathrooms, staff break and resource rooms, meeting room, and dedicated parent spaces such as a resource area.
  • Storage: Plan for ample space for storage needs up front to add to your satisfaction with the center when it is complete.
  • Entry/Reception: Discuss what type of reception work area is needed, security system requirements, waiting area layout, and a potential separate delivery area.
  • Maintenance: Plan for enough space for important functional areas such as laundry facilities, janitorial closet, mechanical room, etc.
  • Outdoors: Carefully think of the areas outside of your facility such as parking, landscaping, playground, etc.

JL Architects has over 30 years of experience providing planning, permitting, design, and architectural support across the entire US. With a variety of early childhood care and educational facilities in our portfolio, how can we help you update or plan your next child care center?

-Laura McLaine, Director of Business Development

 

Filed Under: COVID-19, Education Tagged With: architect, architectural services, architecture, building efficiency, building renovation, COVID-19, education, sustainable design

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