Meeting Place in the Office: Why the Kitchen Is the New Conference Room
Alessandro Nicotra
Working Worlds
In short
— Teams that eat together work better together. Informal encounters make a measurable contribution to performance.
— Hybrid working makes these encounters rarer. This makes a place where they happen naturally all the more important.
— A good kitchen is located where everyone passes by, has natural light, offers space for a long table, and can be easily transformed.
The best ideas rarely emerge in meetings. They come about over coffee, over lunch, or in a conversation that was only supposed to be brief. That is why the kitchen is one of the most important rooms in the office today. It is the place where colleagues turn into a team.
In the kitchen, coworkers become a team.
Why is the office kitchen so important?
Because eating together connects people. Researchers from Cornell University observed more than 50 fire stations over 15 months: teams that ate together more often received better performance ratings from their supervisors. One researcher summed it up: eating together is more intimate than looking at a spreadsheet together.
This effect is also evident in the office. When a bank scheduled coffee breaks in its call centre so that entire teams took breaks at the same time, the average handling time dropped—by more than 20 percent for weaker teams (Pentland, Harvard Business Review). Energy and engagement outside of formal meetings explained a large part of the performance differences between teams.
What happens when these encounters are missing?
Then knowledge that is not written down anywhere is lost. The IAP study by the ZHAW shows: with rare in-office presence, informal break-time conversations are primarily missing, and relevant information threatens to be lost as a result. Individual companies report that more attractive break rooms and lounges encourage casual exchange again.
Social relationships are more than just a pleasant side effect. A meta-analysis in PLOS Medicine covering 148 studies shows how strongly good relationships are linked to health and longevity.
Kanadevia Inova, Zurich
How do you design an office kitchen where people love to meet?
Like the heart of a home, not like a break room.
Location. The kitchen belongs along the path that everyone walks, close to the entrance, not tucked away in the farthest corner. That way, people bump into each other spontaneously.
Natural light and a view. SECO requires quiet spaces with as much natural daylight as possible and a view outside for dining and break areas. What is mandatory also brings quality: people love to linger at a bright table.
A long table. A communal table brings together people who might not otherwise cross paths. At KAYAK in Zurich, the fully equipped kitchen with a long dining table and a large sofa acts as the counterpart to the daily work routine. Here, people eat lunch, cook together, and celebrate.
Versatility. A good kitchen also serves as a meeting place for team gatherings, events, and guests. At KAYAK, it can be transformed into a party location in just a few simple steps.
The right distance to quiet zones. Where people laugh and talk, it can get louder. That’s why the kitchen is not located next to focus areas, and transition zones buffer between loud and quiet.
How much interaction does a team need?
That varies from company to company. In the Workplace Intelligence survey, employees record their typical week, including time spent in informal encounters. This shows how much space for interaction a team really needs and on which days. From this, we determine how large the kitchen and social areas should be and where they should be located.
What does the company gain from this?
Measurably better collaboration for a comparatively small part of the floor space. In the example of the bank call center, simply aligning the break times was enough to reduce processing times (Pentland, Harvard Business Review). A well-planned kitchen creates these opportunities every day without anyone having to organize them.
Moreover, an adaptable kitchen replaces spaces that would otherwise rarely be used: an event room, an additional lounge, a large meeting room for the whole team.
Northeastern Switzerland Office
Frequently Asked Questions
How large should an office kitchen be?
That depends on how many people are on site at the same time and how the kitchen is used. SECO suggests a guideline value of two to three square metres per person eating at the same time for dining areas.
Is a coffee corner enough?
For brief encounters, yes. For eating together and team events, a space with a table, natural light, and room is needed. A coffee corner complements the dining area, but does not replace it.
Where should the kitchen be located?
In a place where everyone passes by, with natural light and distance from quiet workplaces.
Does an open kitchen disrupt concentration?
Only if it is poorly located. With clear zoning and transitions between loud and quiet areas, interaction and quiet work can be well combined.
Is a kitchen worth it even in a small office?
Especially there. In small teams, the shared table is often the most important place for exchange and cohesion.
Sources
Groups that eat together perform better together, Cornell University, 2015
The New Science of Building Great Teams, Alex Pentland, Harvard Business Review, 2012
IAP Study 2023: Hybrid Work, ZHAW IAP, 2023
Social Relationships and Mortality Risk, Holt-Lunstad, Smith and Layton, PLOS Medicine, 2010
Guidance on ArGV 3, Art. 33 Dining and break facilities, SECO, 2016
Social eating connects communities, University of Oxford, 2017
A good office has a place where you don't need an appointment to meet.
Contact
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