A café that closes for a month often doesn't reopen. So the programme was the design brief.
We split the job into three phases: the back-of-house kitchen and extract over two weekends, the counter and services over four nights, and the front and decoration in the final week with a temporary counter serving from the door.
The counter is oak and painted timber, made in our workshop and fitted in one night. Under it are the fridges, the pass and enough electrical capacity for the espresso machine the owners are saving up for.
The front is a pair of timber-framed folding doors painted the same navy as the fascia, with the sign painted by hand. On a warm day the whole front disappears.
- Week 0Call, survey and fixed priceDrawings agreed, price fixed before anyone starts
- Week 1Kitchen and extract (weekends)1 week on site
- Week 2Counter and services (nights)1 week on site
- Week 3Front and decoration1 week on site
- Week 4Signage and snagging1 week on site
- Week 4HandoverClean, paperwork handed over, keys back
- Week 10Snagging visitWe come back and put right anything on the list
“They worked nights for the last fortnight so we never closed. Takings went up the week we reopened.”
Ask how the work will be phased before you ask what it costs. A cheaper quote that closes you for six weeks is not cheaper.
Further reading
The official guidance for this kind of job
- Planning Portal: Change of use: use classes
Which use class a shop, café or office falls into, and when a change of use needs permission.
- HSE: The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015
The duties on clients, designers and contractors on every construction project, and when to notify HSE.
- Historic England: Works to buildings in commercial use
Permissions and practical points when fitting out a business in an older building.
