Innovative New Layout or Obtrusive Waste of Space?

The new layout in the large atrium came as a shock to the pupils of Greendown School. For the people who can't deal with change, this could have been a burden on their lunch lives. However, for people with more open minds, it could be a new beginning for the large atrium.

The new layout was arranged in a way that will shorten queues and attract more customers to the financially struggling canteen. So, has it worked? To start, the new layout does look more attractive than the previous one. With more open space to browse what you are purchasing, it gives the customer more time to think about their purchase rather than being shoved through a large bustling queue, trying to grab whatever possible. Another helpful attribute that this layout has it that everything is in one place, so there is no need to dart back and forth across the atrium to find what you are looking for. Furthermore, there has been much less theft as there are staff constantly patrolling and keeping an eye on all areas of the layout; you have to buy something to leave the area.

So far, the new layout is sounding very inviting to pupils looking to give up their packed lunches and spend their cash at the canteen. However, the grass is never greener on the other side and the new layout has had a knock on effect on other aspects of lunch life. Because of the amount of space the new layout takes up, there is less seating system has, unfortunately, been suffering due to the influx of cash payments. The queue to the cash till has recently been considerably longer than the cashless till; this is very bad for the canteen's finances, as pupils bringing in loose cash are more likely to spend it elsewhere! The canteen itself is loosing money with only around 300 staff and pupils using the canteens on average daily. So, the system might not be working the way it was intended to.

The whole reason for the new ideas such as this layout, is to attract more customers to the canteen, but in fact the canteen is still not making substantial profit! So, is this layout really doing what it is designed to do? If you have any queries about or even solutions to this layout, or just want to tell us that you think it's working fine then feel free to contact G-Mag and its members.

By Rhys Spackman
Year 11