webXtra

by Daniel R. Atilano, AIA ......................................................................webXtra

....................get the service desk right

The service counter is the first encounter with people who visit your agency's recreation facility. A well-designed service desk enables staff to provide exceptional customer service and aids the facility's security efforts. But, in the throes of planning a new facility or remodeling an existing one, the service desk is often not the top priority.

After recently working on the re-design of two existing service desks and two new facilities, I visited four clients' recreation facilities to evaluate our firm's work. My objective was to learn the good, the bad and the ugly of service desk design. Among the lessons I learned were:

• Get the height right. Determine if the staff will be sitting in chairs or standing and using stools when serving patrons. If using a chair, the lower counter height should be 30 inches. Whereas, if stools are used, the lower counter height should be 36 inches. The service counter height can vary between 40 to 44 inches. The lower dimension works better for people in wheelchairs if they are scanning a membership card.

• Make it the right size. Provide twelve lineal feet of countertop for each workstation. Therefore, if you plan on two workstations, the counter area should be approximately 24 feet long.

• Keep the design flexible. Shelves that are moveable will enable staff to adjust them to meet their changing needs.

• Hide the clutter. A high-low counter arrangement provides the opportunity to keep the clutter to a minimum. A countertop with clutter is unattractive and detracts from your facility's look. Open shelving is not conducive to a clean and organized appearance.

• Conceal the spaghetti. Provide removable panels at the staff side to conceal unsightly electrical cords and cabling.

In this issue's WebXtra, I detail the secrets to designing an attractive and efficient front desk for your fitness facility so you can make that first impression a great one.

Read this Article and See Examples
of Well-Designed Service Desks

At the IAPD web site ...
Go to www.ILparks.org. Scroll down to the "News Alert" section and hit the link under "IAPD Web Extra"

At the JPRA web site ...
Go to www.ILipra.org. Roll over the "Resources" option at the top of the main page and select "IPR Magazine.
" From there, pick "WebXtra." Or, you may go to www.ILipra.org/resources/webxtra.cfm.

Daniel R. Atilano, AIA
is a principal and team leader at Burnidge Cassell and Associates' Recreation Studio. Burnidge Cassell and Associates, Inc., or BCA, is an Elgin-based, full-service architectural firm specializing in park and recreation design services from planning through construction. Services include architecture, interior design, landscape architecture and planning services. On the Web at www.bca-arch.com.