A mountaintop retreat: offering numerous dining options is the key to satisfying the more than 14,500 skiers stopping for a bite to eat at the Roundhouse lodge on Whistler Mountain

Nation's Restaurant News, Sept 9, 2002

To better accommodate its increasing number of hungry skiers, Whistler Mountain Ski Resort retained Vancouver, B.C.-based David Greig & Associates to expand and enhance its current foodservice facility.

Perched 6,069 feet above sea level and accessed primarily by a 25-minute gondola ride, The Roundhouse Lodge in Whistler, B.C. required precision design planning to enable it to feed the more than 14,500 skiers who visit each day during peak season. Measuring in at 32,000 square feet, the new facility features a wide variety of dining options and an enhanced banquet component. Seating capacity is in excess of 1,500 with comfortable function service for 800 guests.

"It was designed from the inside out. Foodservice was given a priority," said Nick Arcadi, project manager/designer at David Greig & Associates.

Designed to resemble a comfortable mountain chalet, The Roundhouse Lodge offers various restaurant and banquet facilities, including an upscale dining room and food-court style dining at The Marketplace and Pika's. Customers reluctant to venture indoors can dine at the lodge's outdoor barbecue.

Finishing kitchens throughout the space are supported by a central commissary kitchen which also supports five satellite dining facilities on the mountain. Food is delivered to the The Roundhouse Lodge in special packaging on the mountain's gondola. An intricate system of behind-the-scenes hallways brings food from the central kitchen to each of the five restaurants within the structure.

To keep customers moving through the space and increase speed of service, Arcadi said they concentrated on making The Roundhouse Lodge's self-service dining areas efficient. Rather than lining customers up, Arcadi said they installed stations throughout the area to allow customers to immediately approach the selection of their choice. "If you see something that's linear, the first thing people start to do is get in a line," Arcadi said. "It just doesn't work and starts to become a big issue in handling large groups of people in a recreation setting with a two-hour capture."

To help separate the stations, Arcadi said they varied muted earth tones in a broken tile pattern decorating each service station. Double-sided cash registers speed up the payment process without removing any of the revenue-generating seats.

In addition, Arcadi said they separated dining areas from the food court area with rustic wall sections to enable the space to be closed off for banquets and to complement the large wooden beams which support the ceiling. "We had to tie it all together and make a banquet-type setup that did not look like a food court," he added.

In an effort to carry the mountain chalet theme into the foodservice area of The Roundhouse Lodge, Arcadi said they selected decorative fascia mosaic to cover the durable stainless steel equipment.

With numerous customers in awkward ski gear, Arcadi said they had to design the restaurant to facilitate its unique customer base. To prevent customers from slipping in their ski boots, rubber-based flooring was selected. To make the Roundhouse's family dining restaurant, Pika's, kid-friendly, the design team used lower tray rails and added glass to the front of the concession stands so children can watch their food being prepared. Adding kid favorites such as grilled cheese sandwiches and a hot chocolate bar helped make the restaurant popular with youngsters.

The design also responds to the lift corporation's environmentally-sensitive policy on waste disposal and recycling. Each restaurant incorporates a method of handling waste and recyclable materials. All waste material is processed through a central waste-handling room for sorting and compacting. Processed material is transferred down the mountain on the gondola cable in custom-designed containers.

RELATED ARTICLE: Fast Facts:

Project: The Roundhouse Lodge, Whisler, B.C.

Client: Whistler Mountain Ski Resort

Foodservice

Facilities

Consultant: David Greig & Associates Vancouver, B.C.

Architect: Lutz Associates Architects Ltd., West Vancouver, B.C.

Profiles In Design is sponsored by the Foodservice Consultants Society International (FCSI). FCSI members offer a wide range of services, from concept to design to operations.