Designing a Camp Canteen in Container Modules
Updated 2026-11-01 · JIUJIAN GLOBAL technical team
Size the dining area on seats per sitting and the kitchen on meals per hour; separate cooking from preparation and washing, provide a grease trap and a dedicated extract hood, and keep the kitchen in a module with fire-rated construction and an external gas store.
Feeding a camp is a production process. The dining hall is the visible part, but the kitchen module is where the design either works or turns into a maintenance problem within a month.
Sizing
| Parameter | Rule of thumb |
|---|---|
| Dining seats | 25–35% of headcount per sitting, with two or three sittings per meal |
| Dining area | 1.0–1.2 m² per seat including circulation |
| Kitchen area | 0.3–0.5 m² per meal served per hour, plus storage |
| Cold storage | Split into chilled and frozen, sized on delivery frequency rather than headcount |
Zoning the kitchen module
- Receiving and dry store at the entrance, with a raised floor or pallets
- Preparation with separate raw and cooked surfaces, and separate sinks for each
- Cooking line under the extract hood, with the hood sized to the cooking equipment, not to the room
- Wash-up with a two- or three-compartment sink and a grease trap on the drain
- Staff changing and hand-wash at the entry to the food area
The three failures
- Grease. Without a properly sized grease trap the drain blocks within weeks and the camp smells. Empty it on a schedule and record the emptying.
- Extract. Cooking fumes carry grease that coats every surface, including the inside of the roof panel. A hood with a grease filter, ducted outside, and a make-up air path is not optional.
- Fire. Cooking is the highest fire-risk activity in a camp. Use fire-rated panel in the kitchen module, keep gas cylinders outside in a ventilated store, provide a wet chemical extinguisher and a fire blanket, and separate the kitchen from the dining module with a fire-rated wall and self-closing door.
Services
Three-phase power for cooking equipment where it is electric, a dedicated circuit for each major appliance, and an isolator inside the kitchen for emergency shut-off. Water demand is dominated by wash-up: allow for hot water at 60 °C storage with a thermostatic mixing valve at the outlets, and size the grease trap on the number of meals rather than the number of sinks.
Dining module details
Floor finish should be non-slip and cleanable; tables and benches fixed rather than loose where the camp is dusty; ceiling fans or ducted cooling rather than a single split unit, because the doors open constantly. Provide a hand-wash station at the entrance and a waste separation point at the exit — both are the two items health inspectors look for first.
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