Commercial interior design in Batumi: from layout to drawings

Where commercial interior design starts

We start commercial interior design in Batumi with a conversation about how the business works. How many guests come in at the busiest hour, how many staff are on a shift, what equipment has already been chosen. A twenty-seat coffee shop and a restaurant with a full kitchen in the same floor area differ in layout, power and extraction.

Before the first sketch we put together a brief: the process step by step, the equipment with its dimensions and power ratings, the brand book, the renovation budget and the opening date. If your business needs a licence, the requirements for the premises come from your consultant or equipment supplier, and we write them into the brief.

During the measured survey we record the columns, beams, risers and ventilation shafts, the clear height under the lowest beam or duct, and the level difference between the pavement and the floor. We also find out the allocated electrical power and where the extraction can be discharged: these two constraints often decide what kind of business can fit here at all.

A layout built around the process: people, goods, waste

A visitor walks from the entrance to the goods, a table or the reception desk. Staff have their own routes, goods arrive through the service entrance, and waste goes out without passing through the customer area. We draw these flows on the layout and look for the points where they cross: every crossing gets in the way of the work later.

First we place the equipment according to the process flow, and only then draw the walls. A restaurant kitchen is laid out from goods-in to the pass, a clinic splits the premises into clean and dirty zones, and a shop leads the customer past the goods to the till. We keep wet areas close to the risers, so that the floor doesn't have to be raised to give the drain its fall.

Each of the two or three layout options comes with a count: seats or workstations, metres of display, number of rooms.

Industry requirements built into the design

We check fire and sanitary requirements, as well as access for visitors in wheelchairs, while the layout is still being drawn. One of the documents we check it against is the technical regulation “Safety Rules for Buildings and Structures”, approved by Resolution No. 41 of the Government of Georgia of 28 January 2016. Which of its requirements apply to your premises depends on their use, floor area and number of visitors, so we find this out before the first sketch.

On the drawings it looks like this: escape routes are kept clear of counters and furniture, the direction in which doors open is checked against the requirements, and corridor finishes have a certified fire classification. In a kitchen and in clinic treatment rooms surfaces are washed and disinfected every day, so the schedule of finishes gives their chemical resistance next to the colour.

If there is a step between the pavement and the floor, we look for room for a ramp or a platform lift together with the building owner, and size the doors and passages for a wheelchair. We check the dimensions for your type of premises against the current requirements before the drawings are issued.

The landlord, the shopping centre and residential complex rules

If the premises are rented, we read the lease before the concept: what you are allowed to change, who is responsible for the building services, and what condition the premises must be returned in. Shopping centres usually have tenant requirements for finishes, the shopfront and the sign, and residential complexes have their own rules for ground-floor shop windows. We ask for these documents in writing, so that the concept doesn't have to be redrawn after a refusal.

For approval we put together a separate package: the layout, renders of the entrance and the frontage, the electrical and ventilation loads, and the finishes on escape routes. The centre's technical department replies at its own pace, so the package goes off while we are still finishing the 3D, and time for their comments is in the schedule from the start.

Brand identity without a logo on every wall

A brand's identity in an interior rests on repeated choices: the colour, the material of the counter, the colour temperature of the light, the shape of the furniture. We turn the brand book into a materials list with tint codes, textures and light fitting models. That way a chain's second outlet looks like the first, even if a different crew builds it.

We test brand materials for wear. A gloss lacquer on a counter, pale upholstery on cafe sofas or a floor in the brand colour in a walkway will show every scratch after six months. For places like these we choose a commercial-grade material that looks similar and show you the samples side by side.

Without a brand book the concept starts with a mood board, but the questions behind it are different from those for an apartment: who your guest is, how long they spend inside, whether they will take photos of the interior.

Timing for the opening, with no downtime

We work out the timeline of a commercial project backwards from the opening date: the end of the rent-free period, the start of the season, an office move. We subtract the renovation, equipment delivery and approvals, and what is left is the time for design. The stages and their dates go into the contract.

So that the site isn't kept waiting, we issue the working drawings in phases. Demolition, partitions, electrics and ventilation come first, and the contractor starts on site while we finish the ceilings and furniture. The shopfront, kitchen equipment and made-to-measure furniture, which take a long time to make, are chosen as early as the concept stage.

A business that is still trading is redone in parts, half the floor or one block of rooms at a time. Each phase gets its own set of sheets with its own date, and the business never has to close completely.

Office, shop, cafe, hotel, clinic, salon

Design, estimate and renovation

We price the estimate straight from the project's materials list, so the construction budget is clear before work starts. If we also carry out the commercial renovation, the site foreman goes through the sheets with the designer before going on site, and disputed details are resolved on paper.

The designer comes to the site at the key stages: setting out the partitions, the services before they are closed up, fitting the counters and display units. This is designer supervision, and on commercial projects it is priced by the month. If you are abroad, we run the project by video and through a shared folder, and you sign off the stages remotely.

How much commercial interior design costs in Batumi

A design project for commercial premises costs from 93 to 130 ₾ per m². The price covers the layouts, the concept, 3D, working drawings and the specification, which is the designer's work. Renovation, furniture and equipment are priced separately.

The rate per metre depends on the type of premises. An office costs less than the base line, from 89 ₾ per m², a shop or showroom from 93 ₾, a hotel with a lobby, corridors and rooms from 110 ₾, and a restaurant, cafe or bar from 130 ₾: the bar, the pass and the link between the dining room and the kitchen mean more details and sheets than an office of the same size. For small premises there is a minimum project fee of 3,600 ₾. A concept without working drawings costs from 1,680 ₾, and designer supervision from 1,290 ₾ a month.

A complex process, made-to-measure furniture and drawings issued in phases for a business that stays open cost more; a ready brand book and repeated zones such as standard hotel rooms cost less. We give a preliminary price from the floor plan, and the final cost is set after the measured survey, once the project scope is agreed. You pay by stage, with no prepayment for the whole project.