When quick service restaurant chains start to find success and gain traction in a new market, expansion can happen rapidly. Word travels fast and suddenly a whole new customer base is ready to wait in line for hours at the next grand opening.
While the quality and tastiness of the food and drink is always most important, the most impactful strategy on the infrastructure side is having an adaptable building prototype. Chain restaurants are supposed to be familiar places with their logos, color schemes, slogans and signature menu items. But replicating the exact same building, inside and out, regardless of location may be contributing to waste and unnecessarily high building costs.
Steel of a Deal
Some chains opt to use a worst-case-scenario approach and equip their locations with all the bells and whistles up front. Others are more cost conscious and identify areas where savings can be had.
We work with one client whose original prototype was designed for Miami-Dade County in Florida, an area with some of the most stringent building codes in the country when it comes to hurricane resistance. No matter where any of their buildings were located, they would be able to withstand the harshest elements.
But using steel that’s engineered to stand tall against a Category 5 hurricane in a location that has little to no hurricane threat just makes the project unnecessarily expensive and elaborate. We explained to the client that we needed to right-size things and do some value engineering. By adapting the prototypical design to be appropriate for the region, we were able to save them money while maintaining the design intent and branding.
It’s always important to provide feedback and input so the client can make their designs better for future growth and expansion. It’s easy to just take the plans you’re given, plop a building down, seal it and move on to the next one. But being a true business partner is to point out a better way to approach a project and provide solutions that can be beneficial for both parties.
The Building is Adaptable, the Brand is Not
For branding reasons, many quick service restaurants are recognizable from the road simply by the size and shape of their building. Some you can tell by the angle of the roof or the type of shingle used. A similar approach was likely used for the interior design and layout of the restaurant, from the kitchen to the order counter to the dining room and restrooms.
The key on the engineering and construction side of the aisle is to not interrupt the brand. We don’t want to change anything that gets them away from their brand standard. We want them to have the iconic building that everybody sees and immediately knows exactly what it is and what type of meal or treat they’re about to enjoy.
We’re trying to compromise and change the things people don’t see, whether that be the use of steel as opposed to an alternate construction type like CMU or wood, or other elements that may be overdesigned that could be pared down to reduce costs.
Build a (Reasonably) Solid Foundation
Most modern QSRs are built atop large concrete slabs. Basements and lower levels are increasingly a thing of the past. Surprisingly, there’s potential for savings in that concrete.
Some chains opt to start with a light concrete slab and beef it up if necessary. At the other end of the spectrum is starting with the stoutest slab that can be built pretty much anywhere without concerns. The downside to that is you may end up with a building that’s considered overdesigned for most areas of the country.
Another downside is complications created by all the additional reinforcing when considering the amount of plumbing and power that is penetrating the slab at different areas to support a commercial kitchen. Over-reinforcing the slab increases the amount of coordination required between trades, and reduces the flexibility to relocate utilities for future renovations.
We had a client whose original design for their concrete slab was reinforced heavier than what we see in some of our major distribution warehouse projects. The first thing we did was go back and let them know we didn’t need to be able to drive a tank around inside the restaurant. They were happy to find out we would be able to save them quite a bit, both on that particular project and going forward.
When a QSR chain becomes a legitimate success, it often looks to expand quickly and strike while the iron is hot. When revenues are rising and social media buzz is building, expansion becomes the priority. But when every future building is based on the work of the prototype architect that designed the very first brick-and-mortar location, it’s always worth revisiting. There are plenty of ways to save other than ordering off the value menu.
Daniel Wenzel is a senior project manager at BL Companies, a 100 percent employee-owned firm delivering integrated architecture, engineering, environmental, and land surveying services.
