Restaurants and bars call upon all of the senses, not just taste, to establish an emotional connection with customers. They rely on their architecture and decor to establish a visual identity that reflects ...
Pizza Fusion brings LEED practices to the quick-service restaurant sector.
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In 2006, Vaughn Lazar and Michael Gordon were looking for a different kind of business concept-and a different kind of lunch. Their frustrated search for quick-service restaurants that would honor their organic tastes (and the tastes of Americans who the Organic Trade Association estimates will spend $23 billion on organic food and beverages this year) sparked the entrepreneurial breakthrough that gave birth to the Pizza Fusion chain.
Organic fare alone would have distanced Pizza Fusion from the field, but Lazar and Gordon were after a holistic approach that would create a design that's as fresh as the menu.
"When we approached the design of the store, we wanted to be like Starbucks, a hip pizza place where you could grab coffee, juice, salad or pizza and hang out. We wanted to break the ‘greasy pizza' stereotype," says Lazar, co-founder and ceo of the Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.-based chain. Lazar and Gordon called in locally based design firm Casa Conde to deliver a mood that matched the food concept.
"We took this restaurant to the next level by making it LEED-certified," says Cesar Conde, principal, referring to the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. All Pizza Fusion stores have to apply for LEED certification, although at what level depends on the franchisee's green ambitions.
Conservation starts with the skeleton, made with 30 percent recaptured industrial concrete and Forest Stewardship Council-certified lumber. The drywall, which is manufactured near store sites, is 95 percent post-consumer content. Restaurant floors are made of bamboo and sealed with volatile organic compound (VOC)-free finishes. "It was important for us to choose products with low or no emissions because we want our employees and customers to enjoy good air quality," Conde says.
Pizza Fusion's furniture is salvaged, recycled or reclaimed from local sites, a plus for franchisees both in terms of cost controls and design flexibility. The Seattle store repurposes old church pews and seating from a bowling alley. In San Diego, patrons can eat at tables fashioned from high school bleachers. Discarded slate roof shingles are reused as wall tiles in Florida's Palm Beach Garden and Weston stores.
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