Food preparation is greatly related to the kitchen lay
out, the equipment, the utensils, and other items in
it. Every kitchen is made up of three main activity
centers:
The storage and preparation center,
The cooking center, and
The clean-up or washing center.
The work involved in all three is so interrelated that
these must not be too widely separated but must
form a compact work unit. An effective use of the
kitchen space and equipment is achieved when
range, sink, and refrigerator are fairly close to each
other, with sufficient working surface and storage
cabinets interspersed among them.
THE WORK TRIANGLE
Situating the three main activity centers in
convenient work triangle is essential to
achieve a workable kitchen. The following
distances are recommended::
Sink to refrigerator -4 feet to 7 feet
Range to refrigerator—4 feet to 9 feet
Sink to range- 4 feet to 6 feet
Total triangle perimeter- 12 feet to 22 feet
To achieve maximum efficiency with the work
triangle factors, the following four basic
arrangement are recommended by kitchen
planners:
The U-shaped kitchen
The U-shaped kitchen is generally
considered the most efficient
arrangement. The three major
advantages:
1. Traffic crossing the basic work
triangle is prevented
2. A continuous counter area exists
3. Distances between appliances are
short.
The L-shaped kitchen
In the L-shaped kitchen, the work centers are
placed along two adjacent walls. A natural
eating corner is created without sacrificing
space from the work area. An easy flow of
work from refrigerator to sink to range is
possible in this arrangement of work centers.
The island kitchen
The island Kitchen is usually a modified U-shaped
or L-shaped arrangement of activity centers. An
excellent use of the island is as a cooking or
mixing center. The addition of a chopping-blocktop and a utensil-hanging-rack makes the design
of the kitchen island attractive.
The Corridor kitchen
The corridor Kitchen is the simplest and
most economical arrangement. The
corridor must be at least four feet wide
and should have a dead end to prevent
traffic through the work triangle.