Most multiple-location restaurants are designed by using a prototype. There are many possible levels of detail for an architectural and engineering prototype, but the basic goals of using a building prototype are:
Standardization: There are efficiencies gained by doing things the same way repeatedly. This is true during the design, construction, and operation of the restaurant.
Timeline Savings: Once a restaurant owner determines a location for a new restaurant, the money clock starts ticking, and the sooner the doors can open the better. The engineers and architects that design the buildings and site can produce final permitting and final construction documents in a shorter timeframe when a prototype is used.
Coordination: In the process of preparing a set of drawings and specifications to build a building, a lot of time is spent on coordination. This can be design coordination such as the electrical engineer determining the location and power requirements of an exhaust fan from the mechanical engineer. Or it can be document coordination such as the number of sheets in the drawing set and what is shown on each sheet. Both types of coordination are reduced when a prototype is used.
Bulk Discounts: With a prototype the same manufacturer products are used on multiple projects. Often better pricing can be negotiated with equipment suppliers and building materials suppliers or a national account can be set-up that will lower pricing based repeated orders of standard components.
Repository of Owner or Operator Criteria: Often there are a lot of design criteria and other information that a restaurateur needs to communicate to the design team on the project. A prototype can be an amazing source of information on product selections, layout preferences, and operational requirements that will be used by the design professionals working on each individual project.
MPW Engineering specializes in MEP design of restaurants and has developed and maintained prototypes for a wide variety of clients. These prototypes are site-adapted in locations all around the U.S. and in some cases outside of the U.S.
Building design prototypes can also be used for retail stores, medical offices, dentist offices and many other types of spaces. It is not only new ground-up buildings that can be designed using a prototype, tenant-finish projects can benefit from standardized drawings and specifications as well. MPW Engineering has successfully applied prototype design to all of these program types.
