Brand and operations redesign for social-impact restaurant
Challenge
Design a new, commercially viable restaurant space that was also conducive to the success of a residential treatment program.
The client was a nationally recognized residential mental health treatment program, unique in its community-based approach to therapy and its requirement that guests (i.e. patients) participate in work programs in addition to clinical treatment. The organization is situated in a rural area with a significant seasonal tourism sector. An on-site restaurant allows guests to work a public-facing work assignment. The client wanted to attract more customers in the winter, spring, and fall to smooth consumer demand and provide more opportunities for guests to interact with the public as part of treatment.
Our Approach
Highlight cost reduction and revenue growth opportunities while using design thinking to source input from the stakeholders of this new restaurant.
The team pursued a “triple bottom line” (mission, community, and commercial viability) and proposed ways for the client to drive higher Average Transactions per Day (ATD) figures in its new restaurant. Alhambra analyzed sales data to determine that a fifteen percent increase in both seating capacity and ATD would raise revenue to target levels. ACG conducted a design thinking session for client guests, staff, trustees, and community stakeholders. Through work with guests and a clinical psychologist, the team developed a series of questions for participants to answer in a focus group session. We produced a list of principles that helped guide the architectural design of the new restaurant and strategic questions that helped shape its operation.
Impact
Alhambra created a business plan and design agenda for the new iteration of the client’s restaurant.
- “15-15 Plan” that helped determine the seating capacity of the new venue and guided the client’s operational strategy for the restaurant (e.g. combining the restaurant with a bakery and coffee bar).
- Comprehensive list of design principles that can be used when working with an architect to design and decorate a new, more guest-centric restaurant space.
- A set of guiding questions and a process to incorporate community stakeholder feedback towards both the new restaurant and the client as a whole.
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