University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital

When University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital envisioned their cafe, they saw a welcoming environment that was not only easily able to handle the flow of patients and their families, but could also offer a number of meal options.

Rapids helped bring the plan to fruition using our cafeteria and kitchen design services, as well as our equipment and smallwares fulfillment program. Our dedicated team worked on both the cafeteria and the Level 12 kitchenette, ensuring both had the same high-end look and quality materials – including equipment that is all run on electric power.

The contoured shape of the cafeteria itself provided a number of interesting challenges. A lot of coordination went into making sure items such as the worktables and countertops would fit seamlessly into the overall design.

The finished project incorporated a variety of different food-serving approaches, including open merchandisers, a salad bar, and a heated display unit. The setup ensured clean, easy access to the equipment and food for both the customers and the cafeteria employees. Rapids also helped make the most of limited storage space – a sliding rack system was devised where all the racks are pushed together to one side when not needed, but can be easily accessed by sliding them to the open area.