The Role of a Catering Consultant in a Hospitality Design Project

How catering consultants work with architects, interior designers and the wider consultant team

The role of a catering consultant within a hospitality design project is often a grey area, and one we are keen to help clarify. The reason it can feel complicated is simple: catering consultants do not occupy a single fixed position within a design team. Their involvement varies depending on the size, complexity, procurement route, and structure of the project.

A catering consultant may lead a catering-led scheme, work as an integrated member of an architect-led design team, or act as a client-side advisor. In Cooper8’s case, this role can also include delivering interior design, as well as working collaboratively alongside specialist interior designers where appropriate. In some projects, catering consultants are appointed early to help shape the brief; in others, they are brought in later to resolve technical or operational challenges.

What remains consistent is the value catering consultants bring to hospitality projects: applying operational knowledge to design decisions, supporting coordination across disciplines, and helping ensure that food spaces work effectively from day one.

This article outlines the different roles a catering consultant can play within a hospitality design project and how they typically work alongside architects, interior designers, and the wider consultant team.

The different roles a catering consultant can take

Depending on the project, a catering consultant may take on one (or several) of the following roles:

1. Lead consultant on catering-led project

On smaller or food-focused projects, the catering consultant may lead the design process.

This is most common on:

• Independent cafes and restaurants
• Small heritage or visitor sites
• Single-operator hospitality projects
• Early feasibility and concept studies

In these cases, the catering consultant may:

• Develop food and beverage strategy and policy
• Lead layout and operational planning
• Co-ordinate interior design and kitchen design
• Balance budget, space, and operational requirements
• Act as the primary advisor to the Client

Here, catering is not simply a workstream within a project, it is central to the brief and the commercial success of the scheme

2. Integrated member of an architect-led design team

On larger or more complex projects, catering consultants typically work as part of a wider architect-led design team, often appointed to support projects progressing through the RIBA Plan of Work.

In this role, the catering consultant:

• Supports early spatial planning
• Advises on back-of-house and front-of-house proportions and workflows
• Works closely with architects, M&E consultants, and other specialists to define catering requirements clearly
• Helps avoid late-stage redesign by resolving operational and services issues early

With a thorough understanding of RIBA stages and typical decision gateways, catering consultants can provide the right level of input at the right time, allowing architects to progress the building design with confidence that catering requirements are properly understood, coordinated, and accommodated.

3. Working alongside interior designer

Catering consultants frequently work in close collaboration with interior designers, particularly where the food offer is customer-facing. In some projects, the architect also delivers the interior design, while in others a specialist interior designer is appointed as part of the wider team.

Regardless of the project structure, the catering consultant’s role remains consistent: supporting design intent with operational intent and ensuring that service, flow, and functionality are fully considered.

This includes co-ordination on:

• Counter and servery design
• Pass-throughs and service points
• Front-of-house and back-of-house interfaces
• Customer and staff flow

At Cooper8, we both deliver interior design ourselves and work collaboratively with specialist interior designers, depending on the project. In both cases, the role of the catering consultant is to ensure that design decisions support efficient service, safe working practices, and long-term operational performance.

          Well-designed hospitality interiors feel intuitive because the operation behind them has been carefully planned.

4. Working alongside M&E consultants

Catering design has a particularly close relationship with mechanical and electrical engineering. While catering consultants do not typically undertake full M&E design, they play a key role in defining the services requirements that engineers then develop and coordinate.

         In practice, this often includes:

• Producing electrical diversity, extract rate calculations, water consumption, and waste requirements
• Producing catering services drawings
• Sizing ventilation and extraction requirements based on equipment schedules and menus

This collaborative approach ensures that engineering solutions respond to real operational needs, while maintaining clear professional boundaries and avoiding  duplication of responsibility.

5. Client-side or operator advisor

In some projects, the catering consultant is appointed directly by the client to act as an informed advisor.

In this role, catering consultants support clients by:

• Bringing an operational perspective to design decisions
• Helping clients assess options in terms of long-term performance and value
• Acting as a clear point of reference between clients, architects, interior designers, and engineers

This advisory role applies across all catering projects and adds clarity, confidence, and continuity throughout the design and delivery process. It may also extend to operational reviews, catering audits, and operator selection processes where these form part of the wider brief.

6. Technical specialist or reviewer

Sometimes catering consultants are brought into a projects at later stages

In these cases, their role may focus on:

• Reviewing developed layouts
• Resolving ventilation or servicing challenges
• Rationalising over-designed kitchens
• Reducing risk and cost without compromising functionality

Even at later stages, catering input can help protect operational performance and avoid costly changes during construction or post-handover.

The wider consultant team catering consultants work with

Hospitality projects typically involve a broad consultant team. Catering consultants commonly work alongside:

• Architects
• Interior Designers
• Mechanical and electrical consultants
• Structural engineers
• Fire consultants
• Acousticians
• Quantity surveyors
• Project managers
• Planning consultants
• Landscape architects

In Summary

The role of a catering consultant in a hospitality design project is not defined by hierarchy or job title, but by adaptability, experience, and the ability to connect operational reality with design intent.

Whether leading a small catering-led scheme, supporting an architect-led design team, collaborating with interior designers, or working closely with M&E consultants, the objective remains the same: to ensure that hospitality spaces work operationally as well as they perform visually.

At Cooper8, we tailor our involvement to suit the project, the team, and the client to bring the catering knowledge needed to deliver food spaces that function effectively from day one and perform well long into the future.