Planning a Commercial Kitchen: Ventilation, Hoods, Stainless Steel Furniture
Are you opening a restaurant, planning a canteen or modernizing a hospital kitchen? If you want to plan a commercial kitchen professionally, you need to think about ventilation, hoods, stainless steel equipment and fire protection together from the very beginning. This guide takes you step by step through all trades, including a cost overview.
In practice, kitchen projects rarely fail because of the technology itself, but because of a lack of coordination: the ventilation is undersized, the hoods do not match the layout of the cooking stations, and fire protection only becomes an issue at the acceptance inspection. If, on the other hand, you start early with a well-thought-out overall concept, you avoid costly conversions during operation and get through the acceptance inspection without nasty surprises. The following sections show what matters for each trade and the best order in which to proceed.
Needs analysis: how many meals per day?
Every kitchen plan starts with the question of capacity: how many meals are to be prepared per day, and in what time window? Almost all further decisions are derived from this figure: the space required, the size and number of cooking appliances, the necessary ventilation capacity and ultimately the budget. An honest needs analysis is therefore not a formality, but the foundation of the entire project.
Don't just think about today's needs. A restaurant that is doing well quickly expands its menu; a company canteen grows with the company. So plan in reserves. Expanding ventilation and electrical systems later is much more complex and expensive than forward-looking initial planning. Workflows also belong in this early phase: goods receipt, storage, preparation, cooking, serving and the dishwashing area should cross as little as possible so that hygiene and efficiency work in everyday operation.
The following classification has proven useful as a rough guide:
| Category | Meals/day |
|---|---|
| Small restaurant kitchen | 50 to 100 |
| Medium-sized restaurant / small canteen | 100 to 500 |
| Hospital / hotel restaurant | 500 to 2,000 |
| Large-scale kitchen / catering / university cafeteria | 2,000+ |
These categories are deliberately broad. In the end, the specific food concept is what counts: a kitchen that cooks fresh every day needs more space, appliance capacity and exhaust air than a pure regeneration kitchen that merely reheats and plates delivered components.
Ventilation, hoods and fire protection according to DIN EN 16282
Kitchen ventilation is a mandatory part of every commercial kitchen and, at the same time, the trade with the greatest influence on working climate and safety. Cooking produces large quantities of cooking fumes, a mixture of water vapor, grease aerosols and odors. If these fumes are not captured directly at the cooking station, grease settles on ceilings, walls and appliances, humidity rises and staff work under conditions that take a toll on health and concentration in the long run.
That is why the principle is: capture fumes where they arise. Choose suitable hoods and kitchen exhaust technology based on the layout and output of the cooking stations. Don't forget the supply air: whatever is extracted above must be able to flow back in without drafts, otherwise you get negative pressure, doors that do not close properly and unpleasant drafts at the workplace.
Hood types
The choice of hood type depends primarily on where the cooking appliances are located and how the kitchen is organized:
- Wall-mounted hood: cooking line along a wall
- Ceiling hood: central cooking island
- Induction hood: highly efficient
- Combi steamer hood: specifically for combi steamers
- Counter hood: open counter / show kitchen
In practice, several hood types are often combined, for example a wall-mounted hood above the cooking line and a separate combi steamer hood that reliably captures the burst of steam released when the appliance is opened.
Mandatory filters in the hood
The hood itself contains a multi-stage filter system that retains grease and flying sparks before the exhaust air enters the duct network. This not only protects the system from grease deposits, but is also the most important measure against grease fires in the exhaust duct:
- Flame arrestor filters (DIN EN 16282-7): mandatory
- Knitted mesh filters as grease pre-separators
- Activated carbon filters for odor neutralization
You can read all the details on mandatory filters in the guide Flame Arrestor Filters in Commercial Kitchens. Suitable air filters for regular maintenance are available directly in our shop.
Fire protection in three stages
Fire protection in commercial kitchens is structured in stages: the higher the installed connected load, the more extensive the required measures. This makes sense, because grease load and fire load in the exhaust system increase with output.
- Flame arrestor filters in the hood (standard)
- Smoke exhaust roof fan for connected loads above 25 kW, see smoke exhaust fans
- Automatic extinguishing system from 50 kW (CO₂, water mist)
Caution: Violations of DIN EN 16282-7 (flame arrestor filters) can be punished with fines of up to €50,000. How fire protection works in the duct network is explained in the guide Fire Dampers in Ventilation Systems.
Stainless steel furniture and equipment (DIN 18866 / GN standards)
Stainless steel equipment is the heart of a commercial kitchen. Stainless steel has become established in the professional sector because it can be fabricated with very few joints, withstands high temperatures and aggressive cleaning agents, and can be cleaned to perfect hygienic standards. This is exactly what hygiene concepts in restaurants and institutional catering require: smooth, closed surfaces without crevices where germs could settle.
When buying furniture, it is worth looking at the details: work tables with a backsplash prevent liquids from running down behind the furniture; an undershelf creates additional storage space; neatly finished corners and edges make daily cleaning noticeably easier. The GN (Gastronorm) standard dimensions also ensure that containers, appliances and furniture fit together across manufacturers, a major advantage when adding items later.
Typical basic equipment includes:
- Work tables: with/without undershelf, backsplash
- Work cabinets: storage and preparation
- Heated cabinets: keeping food warm at 30 to 95 °C
- Dish cabinets: hygienic storage
- Wall shelves and wall cabinets
Stainless steel grade: 1.4301 (V2A) for dry areas, 1.4404 (V4A) for wet and aggressive areas. In dishwashing areas or wherever chlorine-based cleaners are used, the higher-alloy material is the safer choice.
Cost overview: restaurant kitchen example
How much does a commercial kitchen cost? There is no blanket answer, as the level of equipment, structural conditions and range of appliances vary considerably from project to project. Nevertheless, the following sample calculation gives a realistic sense of the orders of magnitude and shows how the budget is distributed across the individual trades.
Sample calculation for a medium-sized restaurant kitchen serving 200 meals per day on 80 m²:
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Complete stainless steel furniture | €15,000 to €25,000 |
| Ventilation + 2× wall-mounted hoods + roof fan | €8,000 to €15,000 |
| Initial filter set + maintenance | €500 to €1,500 |
| Dishwashing area | €2,000 to €5,000 |
| Fire protection | €3,000 to €10,000 |
| Appliances (range, combi steamer, refrigeration) | €20,000 to €50,000 |
| Total | €50,000 to €110,000 |
Important for the calculation: the investment is only half the story. Plan for the ongoing costs of filter replacement. The maintenance schedule for ventilation systems shows when each component is due. Cleaning, maintenance contracts and the energy costs of the ventilation also belong in the operating cost calculation from the start.
Frequently asked questions about commercial kitchen planning
How big does the extractor hood need to be?
Wall-mounted hoods: 30 cm overhang on each side. Ceiling hoods: up to 1 m overhang. The overhang ensures that rising cooking fumes are captured even when there are cross drafts. The air flow rate is calculated according to VDI 2052.
Do I need flame arrestor filters in every commercial kitchen?
Yes, as soon as open cooking stations are installed (gas, electric, deep fryer, charcoal). DIN EN 16282-7 has been mandatory since 2017 and is regularly checked during acceptance inspections and audits.
Which stainless steel is the right one?
1.4301 (V2A) for dry areas, 1.4404 (V4A) for wet and aggressive areas. If in doubt, the higher-grade material is worth it because it remains corrosion-resistant over the long term, even with intensive cleaning.
When is an automatic extinguishing system mandatory?
From 50 kW of connected load, for large deep fryers (50 l of oil) and in places of assembly for 200 or more people.
Conclusion
Well-thought-out commercial kitchen planning combines capacity, standard-compliant ventilation, robust stainless steel equipment and fire protection into a coherent overall concept. Coordinating all trades early saves costly retrofits later and gets you safely through the acceptance inspection. Start with an honest needs analysis, size the ventilation with reserves and treat fire protection as an integral part of the planning from the outset. The result is a kitchen that works efficiently, hygienically and safely in everyday operation and remains economical for years. You can find the right ventilation technology for your project at Wohnungstechnik.de.
