CanopyThe Only Café Layout Guide You’ll Ever Need
Designing the ideal café layout is crucial for creating a space that is not only functional but also welcoming to your customers. Whether you're starting from scratch or giving your existing café a facelift, your layout can significantly impact the overall customer experience, employee efficiency, and your business’s bottom line.
In this blog, we'll dive deep into how to design the perfect café layout, covering everything from customer flow to seating arrangements. Let’s explore how the right layout can transform your café into the go-to spot in town!
Why You Need a Well-Designed Café Layout
A well-thought-out café layout can transform your future customers’ experience. Beyond aesthetics, a good layout influences how people move around, where they sit, and how comfortable they feel. Poor layout choices can lead to bottlenecks, slow service, and even a lack of customer retention. Inefficiencies have a direct impact on your bottom line, especially when it hinges on turning around tables and coffee orders promptly.
When designing a café, your layout should be customer-centric but also functional for your staff. It’s all about finding the balance between style and practicality to create a seamless flow.
Recommended Reading: 7+ Must Have Café Design Ideas for Your Dream Coffee Shop
How to Craft the Perfect Café Layout
When designing your coffee shop layout, there are five key elements you must consider before starting your café fitout:
1. Customer Flow & Designated Waiting Space
Ensuring smooth customer flow is essential for both customer satisfaction and staff efficiency. Customers – especially first-time visitors – should be able to enter, order, and find a seat without confusion. The counter or ordering area should be immediately visible when customers walk in, making the ordering process intuitive. If you have a food cabinet, ideally this should be easily visible while customers wait in line, so as not to slow down customer flow.
This might sound simple to explain and set up, but many businesses often overlook customer flow when designing their café fitouts. You’ve probably experienced it too. You walk into a café and you don’t know where to place an order. After you order a coffee, you suddenly get this feeling that you are in the way of everyone; customers, waiters, and baristas rushing past. Should you wait inside? Outside? And if you wait outside will they know you’re out there?
When a café doesn’t have a designated spot for takeaway orders, it looks and feels awkward for customers. They hang around wherever there is space, dipping and dodging waiters carrying plates of precious brunch dishes. An easy fix to avoid this awkward (and potentially hazardous) waiting game is to create clear signage directing customers through the ordering process. For a more subtle and equally effective design, opt for visual cues like floor patterns or lighting to guide customers to the till and waiting areas.
2. Coffee Bar & Counter Location
It’s Melburnian instinct to head right to the counter or coffee bar as soon as one enters a café. With that in mind, when designing your café layout, you want to make the counter easily visible and accessible for customers from the moment they step inside.
Some businesses opt to have the coffee bar towards the back of the café. This setup works to eliminate overcrowding at the entrance but can be a nuisance for takeaway customers. If the path to the coffee bar is quite narrow it could also be an annoyance for seated customers, especially when there is a line.
Placing the counter at the front may cause overcrowding during busier times. On the flip side, once guests are inside and seated, they can eat and enjoy their meal with little interruption.
There is no right or wrong placement for your coffee bar. An interior designer can work with you to help you come up with an ideal placement optimised for efficiency.
3. Seating Arrangement
Seating is one of the most crucial components of your café layout. Whether you’re targeting quick visits or leisurely diners, consider a mix of seating options such as booths, bar seating, communal tables, and cosy nooks. Flexible seating arrangements allow for different group sizes, catering to both individuals and larger groups.
Of course, when running a hospitality business, money is made and lost at the table. You want to be able to serve as many guests as possible, but jamming customers in can ruin the dining experience. There needs to be a comfortable middle ground. Mixing up different seating and table options can help.
Counters with bar stools work great for customers wanting to grab a quick coffee. Banquette seating – while immovable – can serve the needs of groups of all sizes. Tables and chairs can be pushed together or pulled apart when needed, making your layout adaptable during peak hours.
4. Barista and Team Workflow
Customers are the kings and queens of the castle. But at the end of the day, they just want a proper coffee and amazing food. Their experience hinges on the ability of baristas and staff to pump out high-quality food and drinks quickly and often. So when creating your café layout, team efficiency is extremely important.
The area behind the counter should be ergonomically designed, with everything from coffee machines to sinks placed within easy reach to speed up service. The back-of-house kitchens should also be designed for efficiency. Consider including your head baristas and chefs in the design process. They will be spending the most time in these spaces and will be able to provide the insight needed to optimise workflow processes.
5. Creating a Comfortable Atmosphere
Your café layout should evoke a feeling of comfort, warmth; a welcome to anyone who passes by. Consider elements like lighting, colour schemes, and furniture styles to make the space inviting. Lighting should be soft yet functional, creating a relaxing ambience without making the space feel too dim. Natural light is your friend here. Make use of windows, skylights, or glass doors to create a bright and cheerful environment.
Case Study: American Doughnuts Kitchen
Different Layout Styles for Cafés
1. Open Concept Layout at Andros Barkers
An open concept layout encourages interaction and visibility across the entire café. It often involves a central bar or counter where customers can see their food and drinks being prepared.
By minimising barriers and using low-profile furniture, you create a flow that encourages movement and interaction. For the self-professed dog café, Andros Barkers, we created a space that encourages diners to walk around and browse their extensive selection of food goods and pantry staples. Outdoor seating encourages customers to bring their dogs on coffee runs, further increasing interaction between local customers.
Open layouts are particularly popular in modern cafés as they create a sense of transparency and openness. Customers can stop by for a quick bite or stick around for a laptop work session. All are welcome.
2. Zoned Layout at Winston Press
A zoned layout breaks the café into different sections for different types of customers. There might be quiet corners for freelancers, larger tables for groups, and casual seating near the entrance for people who are just grabbing a quick coffee.
In the café fitout for Winston Press, we implemented a mix of modular seating and clearly designated zones to maximise available space. At the centre of the café is a large communal table that can host occasional large groups or many smaller parties. There’s also table seating for longer sittings, bar stool seating for quick bites and a takeaway window positioned right at the coffee bar.
3. Minimalist Layout at Dux Coffee
Characterised by clean lines, neutral tones, and minimal decor, this layout keeps the focus on the coffee experience. It's ideal for modern, urban cafés aiming for a sleek and uncluttered environment. Minimalist layouts often feature open, airy spaces and simple, functional furniture.
At Dux, coffee comes first before everything else. So we leaned into minimalism to centre the whole customer experience on the coffee-making process. When looking in from the outside, passersby instantly understand that it’s a coffee shop that prioritises great coffee above anything else.
Quick Café Layout Design Tips
- Maximise Space: If your café is on the smaller side, consider minimalist furniture, bar stools, and bench seats. This seat type has a smaller width than the average chair further maximising available space. Mirrors and light colours can create the illusion of more space.
- Think About Accessibility: Ensure there’s ample room for wheelchairs and prams. Having accessible entrances, counters, and seating is essential to cater to all types of customers.
- Integrate Technology: Offering features like charging stations, Wi-Fi, and even app ordering can attract a tech-savvy crowd. Ensure these are incorporated in a way that doesn’t disrupt the flow of your layout.
- Subtle Noise Cancellation: Coffee shops can be noisy spaces, so where possible opt for sound-absorbing materials like banquette seating. These choices, along with appropriate music, can drown out background chatter.
Common Mistakes to Avoid in Café Layout Design
- Overcrowding: Too many tables crammed into a small space can make your café feel claustrophobic. Crowded spaces can also slow down turnover times, reducing the amount of money your business can generate during busy periods. Allow enough space for people to move freely between tables without bumping into one another.
- Neglecting Storage: Don’t forget about the less glamorous but essential parts of your café layout, like storage. Ensure there’s ample room for supplies, cleaning materials, and back-of-house essentials without cramping your staff's workspace.
- Ignoring the Customer Experience: Your layout should not only focus on looks but also functionality. A beautifully designed café won’t mean much if your customers have to wait too long for their coffee because the flow of service is disrupted.
Designing Your Melbourne Café With Canopy Fitouts
Designing the perfect café layout requires a combination of creativity and practicality. From the initial flow of customers to the comfort of seating and efficient staff workflow, every aspect of your layout contributes to the success of your café.
Whether you’re setting up a new location or renovating an existing space in Melbourne, Canopy is here to help. We have decades of fitout experience across various industries and can work with you to bring your dream hospitality venue to life. Speak to our team today and we’d be more than happy to give you advice on cost, budgets, requirements, and timeframes for your office or commercial fitout. Give us a call at 1800 434 868 or email info@canopyfitouts.com.au.
