THE COPPERFIELD: MAKING A GREAT FIRST IMPRESSION WITH STATEMENT FURNITURE
Location:
Mendota Heights, MN
Scope:
Furniture
The Copperfield, located in Mendota Heights, MN, provides a wide range of services to its community. Located on the first floor of an apartment building, residents can stop in throughout the day for a meal, a snack or a coffee to go. The upscale casual restaurant not only serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but also houses both a coffee bar and a cocktail bar, perfect for picking up traffic from the surrounding area and nearby highway.
The variety of dining options is reflected in the many unique design styles throughout the restaurant. The Copperfield’s dining area is sectioned off to create a variety of gathering places, from a corner room by a window to a back room with more privacy; a bar area designed for socializing and outdoor seating to enjoy beautiful days. Each individual space has its own aesthetic, bringing a different nuance to the customer experience that correlates with the type of foodservice focus of that area.
As a partner on this project, Boelter brought its experience in foodservice design and relationships within the industry to help the operators make their vision a reality in the front of house. Collaborating with vendors, finding customized solutions and overseeing installation were a part of how the Boelter team made the furniture an integral part of the overall success of The Copperfield.
Streamlined Sourcing and Communication
The original design drawn for The Copperfield used a variety of colors, styles, and furniture types throughout, to make each dining area and nook a unique experience. But rather than going to eight or ten different sources to get the specific styles and materials needed for the project, Boelter’s team was able to work with just two vendors, one for the chairs and bar stools and another for the booth seating and tables.
Boelter’s working relationship with these vendors brought some advantages to the project:
One point of contact. Bill Ziegler, director contract & design, served as the contact between the two vendors and the client. He was able to work between them to match materials and wood finishes between job sites, and make sure the dimensions would line up at installation.
Coordinated installation. The manufacturer of the chairs and bar stools brought all their product to the warehouse with the booth seating. From there, only one vendor did delivery and installation to the restaurant which improved efficiency and had everything cleaned up and ready for service with a quick turnaround.
Solving Challenges through Experience and Know-How
Sourcing and installing furniture at a restaurant is about much more than just choosing a type of table or picking colors for the booths. When it comes to getting the right materials and furniture for the job, it helps to have a team that understands foodservice, as evidenced by the work at The Copperfield.
The dining area adjacent to the bar was designed with booth-height tables and booths. While these looked great and provided a nice transition from the bar to the other dining area, the height brought a challenge to the functionality. Ziegler worked with the manufacturer to customize the original design and add supports under the tables to make them more sturdy for public use.
In another dining area of The Copperfield, booth seats back up to the walk-in cooler that houses the beer kegs. It’s necessary to design some tilt to the floor for any walk-in cooler with liquid inside for code regulations. That meant the booths had to be custom designed to sit higher on one end than the other to accommodate the tilt of the floor and at the same time sit level with the window. Ziegler knew about the floor tilt early enough to work with the furniture manufacturers so that everything was designed to fit perfectly at installation.
At Boelter, we understand a restaurant experience is about more than just serving food. The front of house plays just as much of a role in creating that overall experience as the equipment and menu that’s the focus of the back of house. The Copperfield provides an example of how our team of experts bring an overall knowledge of foodservice, design and equipment to create furnishing solutions that are aesthetically pleasing, comfortable and functional.
