Dining Halls / Commons

Dining commons are prime campus real estate, but often don’t deliver the return they should. Dining commons furniture in fixed layouts is only fit for purpose for a few hours each day, and then only for the short academic year. All that vacation time can be turned to good use. These spaces can easily perform a variety of profitable functions, from gala dinners through lectures, concerts and conferences - but only if the furniture can be reconfigured at will, easily, quickly and economically.

The three critical factors in turning dining commons into profit centres are capacity; flexibility; and storage. Luke Hughes & Company has vast and varied experience in the intelligent design of furniture to these criteria, a uniquely comprehensive approach that has been called ‘total design’. Dining tables that fold but don't look or feel like it, dining chairs that speak to their architectural setting but also stack and slide away, efficient and discreet furniture storage and handling systems – all are second nature to us.

Where once it took six people several hours to clear a dining common, we aim to make it the work of two – done and dusted in less than 20 minutes. For us, design isn’t just about aesthetics; it’s about making the building work harder, but ensuring the architecture is respected. And if we can make or save you money in the process, the benefit is doubled. We reduce contract costs by value-engineering existing designs, create flexibility through ingenious storage and handling solutions, and increase revenue with meticulous capacity planning.

We have solved capacity issues and overcome operational constraints designing more than 30 dining commons for leading private schools, colleges and universities.

Call or email Alison Bregstein at LHCL if you have a dining commons problem you want to be solved.