Stockpiles permanent?

[Kirid]

Are stockpiles as they exist currently a permanent feature? I know dwarf fortress and many other similar games rely on the the stockpile method, but it seems like there would be a better solution.
Why not have a silo-like building to store resources, a scrap pile, silver safe. Items like meals take up anywhere from 10-30 spaces, but could logically occupy a space as small as 1-3.
It's still alpha so I may be jumping the gun, but I really hope something different can be figured out.
Stockpiles take up extreme amounts of space and are quite an eyesore. About half of any colony I build ends up being stockpile space.

[Tynan]

They are permanent, though I may add storage technology in future that lets colonist stack things on shelves and such in a more efficient and less ridiculous way. Because piling everything on the floor is a bit odd.

[UrbanBourbon]

Meals definitely need stacking. Guns, too. We definitely need container technology, as ludicrous as that sounds. For guns, do away with the 2-tile wide Equipment Racks and introduce 1-tile wide Gun Rack that accepts 5 identical guns, or, preferrably have their own inventories. The interface could be identical to trading screen, only instead of 'Buy' and 'Sell', there would be 'Deposit' and 'Take'. As for meals, I think maybe the problem with them is that they're prepared one at a time.

Option 1a:
Why not instead have meals prepared 5 or 10 at a time. The meal stacks would then have a timer. Of course then SOMEONE should make sure that the odd stacks would be consumed first if there's more than one stack to choose from.

Option 1b:
Make 5 or 10 meals at a time. The meals could then be hauled into Meal Racks (furniture) that accept 5 or 75 meals. Colonists would then fetch meals from them.

Option 2a:
Overhaul cooking as follows: Instead of making meals, chefs could cook each raw ingredient stack and haul the cooked stack into Food Bins (furniture). Raw meat would be cooked into Cooked Meat and raw potatoes would be cooked into Mashed Potatoes and so on. Do I see Sliced Agave and Strawberry Jam in the future? Chefs would stop assembling the meal trays and colonists would do it themselves instead, collecting independent cooked ingredient parts on the trays, forming a Simple Meal, Fine Meal, or Lavish Meal. Individual Food Bins should then be placed next to each other for minimal meal assembly time.

Option 2b:
Repurpose Nutrient Paste Dispenser into Meal Dispenser. Chefs could haul cooked ingredients into the Meal Dispenser's hoppers, and the player could control the meal quality, through Meal Dispenser's settings. Lavish meals would require at least 3 hoppers assigned to the Meal Dispenser, each with different ingredient. Further along this line of thought, colonists' thoughts or future traits might determine which ingredients a colonist is more likely to pick on his plate. Do I see preferences or dietary restrictions in the future? A colonist could be a vegetarian, or allergic to some foods. Vegetarians, however, should then be able to compose their own Lavish Vegan Meals. Or should they be forever doomed to eat Simple Meals, since meat is required for Fine and Lavish meals?

[killerx243]

[...]
Option 2a:
Overhaul cooking as follows: Instead of making meals, chefs could cook each raw ingredient stack and haul the cooked stack into Food Bins (furniture). Raw meat would be cooked into Cooked Meat and raw potatoes would be cooked into Mashed Potatoes and so on. Do I see Sliced Agave and Strawberry Jam in the future? Chefs would stop assembling the meal trays and colonists would do it themselves instead, collecting independent cooked ingredient parts on the trays, forming a Simple Meal, Fine Meal, or Lavish Meal. Individual Food Bins should then be placed next to each other for minimal meal assembly time.
[...]

I like this idea for maybe a buffet table item which would be like a nutrient paste dispenser but for real food. However I think the chef makes anything fine or lavish. Yes you could make a bunch of simple meals fast with a buffet table but if you need a good chef to make Muffalo steak with an Agave garnish and a decorative baked potato side, which you would not be putting in a buffet table.

[Col_Jessep]

They are permanent, though I may add storage technology in future that lets colonist stack things on shelves and such in a more efficient and less ridiculous way. Because piling everything on the floor is a bit odd.

Freezers would be nice to get rid of that huge stockpile of prepared menus in my cantine. Please? 

[sparda666]

Freezers would be nice to get rid of that huge stockpile of prepared menus in my cantine. Please? 

You can still make those stockpiles aesthetic for now in the meantime

[Kirid]

Freezers would be nice to get rid of that huge stockpile of prepared menus in my cantine. Please? 

Well logically that would make all your meals cold, a freezer item would make more sense for meat. Kitchens are definitely the worst area for ugly stockpiling.
In RL, I don't think I would ever eat a piece of meat that was sitting on the floor for any period of time.
"I tell you what, nothing makes meat tender like sitting on the floor for a week and getting walked on"

In reality if you had several humans and tons of any resource they would more than likely just throw it into one big heaping pile.
Instead it looks like someone with an insane case of OCD has demanded that all resources be placed in a grid and perfectly spaced.

[Jotun]

They are permanent, though I may add storage technology in future that lets colonist stack things on shelves and such in a more efficient and less ridiculous way. Because piling everything on the floor is a bit odd.

Storage furniture would be a great way to make bases more interesting looking, as well as potentially adding some benefits to using them (like making meals last longer in fridges).