The AOK congress and training centre in Sarstedt represents a pleasant and relaxing setting for study and stays. It comprises a luxury hotel with premier-class dining operating for over a century, there are also four school buildings and the villa housing the restaurant.
The centre is operational all year round, for this reason a professional kitchen was necessary for maximum use throughout the day.

The requirement

• After 20 years’ intensive use, Andreas Baum, director of the AOK division and manager of the AOK Sarstedt training and conference centre, decided to opt for a new kitchen island serving the restaurant.
• With a view of continuity with the past, Andreas Baum, manager of the business unit of the hotel, and Gabriela Beckers, chose Chefs Culinar as partner for the development of the new kitchen. Stefanie Rohrig from Chefs Culinar was responsible for the entire design.
• The three chefs from the training centre were also involved in the preliminary meetings in order to analyse their needs and study together the best solution that would fulfil these needs.
• One of the main requirements was to maintain the same concrete plinth on which the previous island had been mounted.
• Similarly, the configuration of the kitchen equipment also had to remain unchanged, except for the integration of the electric kettle in the island.
• Other essential features of the new island had to be the use of cutting-edge technology, ruggedness, reliability, flexibility, guarantee of high performances and ease of cleaning in order to maintain the highest hygiene levels.

The solution

• Chefs Culinar supported AOK in the choice of the best solution for their needs, deciding on a double island from the Ambach System 850 line.
• Work on dismantling of the old island and assembly of the new one was completed in just three days, during closure of the Centre after the Christmas holiday.
• The single modules of the double island were transported easily through the door of the kitchen. With the aid of the Ambach “Seamless joining system”, the equipment was installed quickly, directly in the kitchen.
• The equipment supplied includes a glass ceramic hob, two pasta cookers, two fryers, a steak grill, electric kettle and two multi bratt-pans. Together they guarantee high performance and the productivity necessary for fast and constant production.
• The built-in worktables on both sides of the island also offer extensive work spaces, while the lower hygienic plinths in H3 provide additional storage space. Thanks to the exclusive Ambach joining system it is possible to configure the equipment with maximum flexibility, especially when it becomes necessary to make equipment reconfigurations.
• The work was carried out in the best possible way thanks to the team spirit of all those involved. The chefs and facility management were very satisfied. “We have always been able to rely on Ambach”, Chefs Culinar and all the other people involved in the project commented. “We’re very pleased”, Baum and Beckers declared.

On 1 September 2015 the vocational college BBS 3 planned to move to a new school building. With a  large teaching staff of 150 to train around 3,000 students attending more than twenty different full and part-time courses to learn to work successfully in the hotel and catering industries.

In the so-called “marketplace” of the college the students offer their classmates and teachers every day the dishes prepared during classes, from mid-morning and afternoon snacks to dishes for lunch and those made specially for events organised by the school.

The requirement

• BBS 3 needed to fit out 6 kitchens for there new college facility.
• More specifically, these are three with 18 workstations which students can use to prepare and do the homework assigned to them. The same kitchens are used for exams.
• The college needed a kitchen for catering and one for large-scale production.
• Not just high performance – the equipment also had to be attractive and rugged. The choice of a partner able to best understand the needs of the college and supply the most appropriate solution was therefore fundamental.

The solution

• Designers Niering&Seifert and Gaplatec carefully analysed the needs of the college to develop a design which enabled them to be met in the best possible way.
• After extensive market research and detailed briefing, BBS chose System 700, the compact high-performance line from Ambach which guarantees maximum flexibility of configuration and ad hoc solutions for every need.
• The company Chefs Culinar were chosen to deliver and install the kitchens.
• In the kitchen used for training 6 double ranges were installed with 12 workstations for cooking simultaneously on both sides. The ranges are equipped with electric induction cookers, work tables, refrigerated base units and neutral elements.
• The kitchen for the large-scale production is equipped with a double range and two high-production pieces of equipment – a tilting bratt pan and an electric saucepan.
• All equipment was made to measure by Ambach with a height of 700 mm.
• All units have an appealing design and H3 category lower base units. Also, thanks to the single piece hygienic tops and rounded edges they allow easy and fast cleaning.
• The college management was highly satisfied both with the Ambach kitchens and the excellent collaboration and support. “The Ambach kitchens are not only perfect for training our students but also represent actual equipment found in the workplace for catering professionals”, commented the college head, Hannelore Guthold.