Our partnership with Riverside College has really fulfilling. From completing a £250,000 project in the C11 training kitchen to partially upgrading the C9 kitchen in 2021, we’ve been dedicated to enhancing the college’s facilities. We also take care of all their service and repair work, ensuring that the college can focus on what matters most – educating their students.
One of the most rewarding projects we’ve undertaken is the transformation of the domestic teaching kitchen for students with learning difficulties at Riverside College. Formerly housed in the main college building, these students now thrive in the fantastic facility of CRMZ. As part of the Foundation Studies department, these students, aged between 16 and 25, receive specialised education tailored to their needs.
When we first arrived, we knew changes were needed. We removed the existing domestic kitchen and replaced it with both a commercial and domestic kitchen. Our focus was on creating an inclusive space where every student could comfortably engage in culinary activities. To achieve this, we installed height-adjustable kitchen islands, allowing students to work at a level that suits them best, especially during induction cooking sessions. The sink and handwashing basins were also made adjustable, promoting independence among the students.
One of the key challenges we faced was optimizing storage space. To address this, we integrated Howdens appliances into the domestic kitchen while ensuring that the commercial kitchen met our usual high standards. Notably, CRMZ’s historic setting in a grade II listed 1930s building added an extra layer of complexity to the project, but we were committed to preserving the site’s heritage while modernising the space for the students’ benefit.
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Client feedback on this project...
“The new kitchen will provide inclusive opportunities for our Foundation Studies students that we have never had before. The kitchen is much more spacious and practical for all our students regardless of needs and disabilities.The domestic side of the kitchen gives our students a real-life experience for them to practice their cooking skills to promote their preparation for adulthood, offering much more workspace, ensuring all our students can use the hobs, ovens, and sinks. This provides them with invaluable independence skills to support them for their future lives.
The industrial side of the kitchen allows us to unlock the potential of our students gaining employment opportunities within the catering industry. For our students to be able to use the same equipment used in the hospitality and catering sector, ensures that we can teach them to become work ready in the comfort of their college setting.
Riverside College, Foundation Studies, cannot thank the team at IDL enough for their professionalism and helpfulness whilst installing our new kitchen. All the team were considerate and supportive towards our staff and students during the installation of our kitchen. This has provided our students with so much joy – they were all so enthusiastic when it was completed and amazed by the facilities, we have been provided by IDL. To see young people in a wheelchair being able to get excited about their cooking lessons due to the rise and fall sinks/workspaces is something we have never had before. The team have provided us with an outstanding service, including being fully trained on the equipment to enhance our teaching and learning opportunities.”
IDL have worked for the college for many years and have always worked well with the college. This is another fantastic project completed by IDL and the students will thrive with the new equipment and surroundings.”
– Simon Smith, Deputy Head of Estates (Health & Safety) at Riverside College & Cronton Sixth Form College
Before the transformation
After the transformation
