Caroline Gomel - 2023 Capstone - Thrive

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PROBLEM STATEMENT

(1) It aims to challenge how people think about the socioeconomic issue around food insecurity in Omaha, NE.

(2) It aims to address the problem of food pantries not being designed as empathetically, welcoming, or nice as they could be. It also seeks to destigmatize food pantries and dignify those who come in.

(3) It aims to raise awareness about unhealthy eating habits at all income, demographical, and educational levels, and encourage people to eat healthier and more organically through the use of a teaching kitchen.

FOOD INSECURITY OVERVIEW IN DOUGLAS COUNTY:

Food insecurity affects 10.5% of the population, and 59% are below the SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) threshold of 165% poverty. According to the CDC, 61% of adults and 28% of youth are overweight or obese, and 96.6% of youth do not meet the Federal government’s guidelines for fruit and vegetable consumption. Because of these things, there is already a partnership in place between Omaha schools and the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition to serve healthier food to more than 49,000 kids across Omaha. They also have plans to install six gardens at schools to teach kids about fresh produce. While this is great, there is no one organization/place for anyone to come and learn more about nutritional food, how to cook with it, and finally access it through a food pantry.

POPULATION: 59, 440

ESTIMATED PROGRAM

AMONG FOOD INSECURE PEOPLE

MEAL COST:

$3.36

GOALS + OBJECTIVES, PROJECT QUESTIONS

GOALS + OBJECTIVES:

- Teach and engage the public about healthy food habits by having teaching kitchen programs like:

- F ood Service Training Program for at-risk teenagers and individuals

- Nutrition Classes where individuals can come and learn how to cook (through separate kitchens) healthy meals

- K ids After-School Program that would promote healthy habit s and teach them how to cook easy snacks

- Provide healthy, affordable food for the community via a food pantry

- Provide volunteer opportunities for the public through the teaching kitchen and the food pantry

PROJECT QUESTIONS:

- Why is this an organization/place that Omaha needs now?

- How will this help the underrepresented communities in Omaha to thrive?

- How can this project promote food and architectural sustainability?

- How can this project help to redirect food to people who need it and lower food waste?

- How can all areas be designed empathetically for all user types in terms of socioeconomic status?

- How can physical space assist in removing barriers (between socioeconomic class, race, education, etc)?

- How can space educate on the topics of healthy eating habits? Including preparation and consumption?

- How can this positively impact the health and well-being of Omahans?

- How can this project partner with other organizations in the community?

SUPPORTING RESEARCH

RESEARCH FOCUSES:

- Designing Spaces Empathetically

- Design + Healthy Eating Habits

- Food Waste + Food Pantries

- Learning Through Teaching Kitchens

Through these topics, this research will seek to inform this project and answer the project questions. With the chosen topics, the aim is to inform the most important/focused areas of the project to design them as accurately and intentionally as possible.

Empowerment, wellness, empathy, and nutrition/food education are strong themes throughout the project as well. Subsequently, it is imperative that every part of the design incorporates this, from designing for all socioeconomic statuses, to promoting healthy eating habits, to designing for learning, to how to cook healthy meals through the teaching kitchen. These research topics were chosen to best inform the design principles, as well as provide context for why certina programs were ultimately chosen. As part of the teaching kitchen, a greenhouse has also been included to further produce education.

The other main emphasis for this capstone is the focus on sustainability regarding reducing food waste. This is an an important point of research because food waste comprises 17% of Nebraska’s municipal waste, making it the third-largest contributor to landfill waste in all of Nebraska, and first in Omaha.

LEARNING THROUGH TEACHING KITCHENS

The teaching kitchen experience will be a huge part of the community outreach aspect of the project. There will be multiple types for different types of cooking/baking, as well as separate ones for different types of volunteering. The teaching kitchens will be used for the food service training, the nutrition classes, after-school programs, and volunteering efforts for the food pantry.

Teaching kitchens were chosen for the project because they have the power to enforce positive change in the community. A study done by Dr. David Eisenberg, Director of Culinary Nutrition at Harvard Chan’s Department of Nutrition, that was published in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, showed that teaching kitchens can “favorably affect behaviors such as cooking confidence, dietary intake, exercise level, and mindful eating practices; as well as health markers like weight, waist circumference, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels.” Additionally, cooking/learning to cook in general can be therapeutic and improve mental and physical health.

With a project with a heavy emphasis on the health and wellbeing of users in the space, teaching kitchens make the most sense in order to achieve that goal.

DESIGNING SPACES EMPATHETICALLY

The design of all the spaces will need to be designed to be welcoming for people of all socioeconomic statuses. The best way to do that is through specific research and intentional evidence-based design. In order for this project to be well-integrated into the site and supportive of it, there must be public engagement and empathy. This ensures that people feel welcomed and represented.

This can also occur in the form of using familiar materials to the location of the site that allows the user to feel welcomed and comfortable. Another element of designing empathetically is employing universal design strategies that can incorporate different furniture types that can accommodate a wide array of needs.

This will occur in the project by taking special care to focus on empathetic design practices such as being: human-centric (focusing on being cognitively empathetic), individual and communal-sensitive (appealing to both individuals and the community at large), justice-oriented (making the spaces equitable and comfortable for all), and values-based consistent (creating the spaces to be flexible and meeting the focuses of the designers and stakeholders in the project).

DESIGN + HEALTHY EATING HABITS

The design of a space can have profound impacts on influencing healthy eating habits. From space planning to lighting choices to signage, the interior environment in which someone is eating has more effect on them than many realize.

For example, seemingly minute elements of a space - from the very spatial orientation of it to the type of furniture found there - can have big impacts on people’s behavior around food. Well-lit spaces can influence people to eat healthier than dimmer-lit spaces. This change is particularly beneficial when it’s incorporated through natural light and views. Additionally, food-related signage that promotes healthy eating habits, and food nutritional information has been shown to help users make healthier choices.

Color plays a role in affecting eating habits as well. The color green is dominant in the project because it often represents nature, health, wellness, harmony, growth, and positivity. With the very center of the project being focused on helping people thrive and grow, green made sense for these symbolizations and many other reasons. It also ties into the second design principle of the project - empathetic design - by being a calming color that helps people feel safe, welcomed, and comfortable.

Food waste is more prevalent than ever, so how can food pantries mitigate and help to rework this issue? This project seeks to address this aspect of the issue by providing food via the pantry, mobile food pantries, and acting as a small-scale food recovery center.

These mobile food pantries will look like food trucks, but will actually give out food instead of selling it, similiarly to what City Harvest Cohen Community Food Rescue Center does in New York City (a later precedent). This will take place at select farmer’s markets throughout Omaha. In addition to providing fresh produce, there will also be healthy cooking demonstrations conducted at these sites too. These mobile food pantries will also partner with local non-profit organizations and schools to provide produce or meals to kids as well.

Food waste is an issue in Omaha, but also across the state of Nebraska as a whole. Currently, food waste is the largest waste contributor for the city. The food will be provided by local food banks that partner with community restauarants, catering companies, farmers, and other organizations. By recovering food and redistributing it through the pantry and local food banks, this can reduce food waste in Omaha and lower climate change effects from the discarded food.

DESIGN PRINCIPLES

1. AMPLE LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

This will be accomplished through multiple teaching kitchens and classrooms. These will be divided by type of cooking and age of participants. It will also include nutrition classes, programs for food service, and after-school. Many of these classes will be conducted by retired or volunteer chefs, to keep costs down.

2. EMPATHETIC DESIGN

This will occur through material choices, furniture options, and wayfinding. The idea is that everyone can come and feel welcomed. Part of this empathetic design is incorporating safety elements, in terms of kitchen and personal safety, since there will be a wide variety of participants present at any given time.

3. HEALTHY EATING + DESIGN

Healthy eating will be encouraged through spatial layout moves, environmental considerations, and furniture types. This will also be encouraged by the community mobile food pantries. The nutritional classes will help participants understand healthy eating better and how to cook easy healthy meals.

4. COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Community Engagement will happen through a variety of avenues - volunteering with the food pantry, teaching kitchens, and taking part in the classes/programs themselves. Mobile food pantries will also encourage opportunities for this, in addition to providing food access to those who can’t come to the pantry in-person.

5. FOOD SUSTAINABILITY

This will occur through the part of the food pantry that will be focused on food recovery, specifically getting unused food from local businesses to use for the pantry. This food will be packaged andprepared in the warehouse part of the project, for the pantry and mobile pantries. This will help with lowering food waste and increasing food access.

6. TRANSPARENCY + FLEXIBILITY

This principle will ensure that each space is transparent, equitable, and flexible. Specifically the main dining area and the teaching kitchens to enable everyone to feel seen and heard. These two spaces could be used interchangeably, providing additional tables/chairs for various events. However, all spaces will have a focus on flexibility.

PRECEDENTS

NOURISH HUB.

2021, Hammersmith, London. Mixed-used workspace and community food hub. Project design by RCKa Architecture, for LB Hammersmith & Fulham, UKHarvest. Key features include the renovation of a row of vacant shop units for this community kitchen and learning space. The space includes a commercial kitchen, teaching kitchen, and multiuse dining space that can be used for a workspace or event venue. It was intended to be as accessible and welcoming to the surrounding community as much as possible, which occurs through sliding glass doors, a serving hatch, and fun colors that create a friendly, fun atmosphere. The design of the interior was intended to encourage the local community to make this center their own.

Project Focus:

“... With Hammersmith & Fulham the London borough with the highest dependency on food banks, Nourish Hub’s ambition is not only to provide food for vulnerable local residents. It offers opportunities for people to practice cooking skills, learn about nutrition and access jobs in the food industry...”

https://www.dezeen.com/2022/02/21/nourish-hub-rcka-ukharvest-tackle-food-poverty/ https://rcka.co.uk/nourish-hub/

Kitchen

This precedent was chosen because it has a large focus on teaching kitchens, community engagement, and user experience. For example, Nourish Hub was designed specifically to engage and encourage the community to make this space their own. This precedent’s spatial layout is interesting because instead of having a central restaurant, it has a central multiuse space that can be used flexibly for a variety of events, and helps the space flow nicely.

Multiuse Dining Space

COMMUNITY SERVINGS.

2019, Boston (Jamaica Plains), MA. Renovation, mixed-use. Project design by Jacobs, for Community Servings, David B. Waters. 13,000 square feet expansion, with three new levels. Key features include renovations to the existing building to allow for expansions in the kitchen; areas of volunteer meal preparation, food service training; and storage. There was also a food and health policy center introduced for research on their work of medically-tailored meals, and how to replicate the model elsewhere.

Project Focus:

“...For 30 years, we’ve been focused on bringing nutritious, scratch-made, medically tailored meals to our neighbors in need. With the opening of our new Food Campus, we plan to double and eventually triple the amount of meals we prepare and deliver over the next ten years,” said David B. Waters, CEO of Community Servings. “Our goal is to ensure that people across the Commonwealth who are living with critical and chronic illnesses receive the nutritious meals they need to maintain and improve their health....”

https://www.shawmut.com/news/community-servings-unveils-25-million-expansion-to-food-campus

https://www.servings.org/foodisthefoundation/news-updates/community-servings-breaks-ground-on-food-campus/

This precedent was chosen because of its program type, teaching kitchen program, and variety of teaching kitchen spaces. Throughout the three-story building, there are teaching kitchens dedicated to learning, family-friendly volunteering, and baking. In this way, they provide a variety of areas for different food/cooking preferences and different types of people (i.e., individuals, families, and community groups).

CITY HARVEST’S COHEN COMMUNITY FOOD RESCUE CENTER.

2022, Brooklyn, NY. Workplace, Hospitality, Warehouse. Project design by Ennead Architects and Rockwell Group, for City Harvest. 150,650 square feet. Key features includes a focus on sustainability, through the renovation of a warehouse, using sustainably-made furniture, and making the building energy efficient. At City Harvest, they have offices, various food storage areas, test kitchen, warehouse food distribution area, conference room, and event space. With the large space, they are able to serve five different boroughs across New York City.

Design intent:

“An existing turn-of-the-century wood-framed warehouse is renovated for City Harvest, the world’s first and largest food rescue organization. The transformative intervention co-locates the administrative arm of the organization with their warehouse and food distribution facilities to streamline workflow and build a stronger culture and community within the institution.”

https://www.ennead.com/work/city-harvest

https://metropolismag.com/projects/food-rescue-city-harvesthq/?utm_campaign=ME_SustainabilityNewsletter&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=243201004&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--0Dpj7zdCCyGoo6Ju-BlCACqjghDHwEjpdgS83MPyLLxLzRW6A4_FkOkUnFOKra__Zxnpfw2HHTFytzp2I4Oh7-vY9BA&utm_content=243201004&utm_source=hs_email

This precedent was chosen because of its focus on food reallocation, food distribution, sustainability, and wide variety of program types. Their emphasis on sustainability is directed towards both the food and architectural aspects of the project, which is why they repurposed an old warehouse. Instead of having designated dining areas like previous precedents, this one has event spaces in the form of a teaching kitchen and volunteer packaging areas.

SITE ANALYSIS

The site that is chosen is in the heart of Downtown Omaha aims to help people in an area that has little food pantry accessibility, as seen in the next page’s food pantry location map. It is easily accessible by bus, bicycle, and on foot, which was a very important part of the site. Access is so crucial because many of the diverse targeted users wouldn’t necessarily have reliable vehicular transportation of their own. The downtown location is also helpful because there are plenty of restaurants that the project can partner with for different things.

The current site is on the corner of S 14th and Howard St., with the Interim (Downtown) Branch Omaha Public Library and Adam E. Astley, Attorney/Defender Corporation Corporate offices to the east on Howard St, and Group One Interiors directly north of the building. The main access point is off S 14th St, with secondary access points being farther north of the building, on S 14th St, and tertiary entrances/exits along Howard St.

The site is now a Throwback Arcade Lounge. One notable building on the same block as the site is the Omaha Police Headquarters is directly across from the site, to the south. This police headquarters will be helpful in maintaining a safe atmosphere for everyone who comes. To the west, there are more parking lots, and to the north of the site, there are a wide variety of assorted businesses. Finally, this site was a perfect historical building to readapt.

FOOD PANTRY LOCATION MAP.

This map locates neighboring food pantries surrounding the site. There are not many food pantries in the Old Market, showing a clear need for one to be established. The brighter green marker shows the location of Table Grace Cafe, which is a restaurant that aims “to foster a community restaurant by offering great food prepared and served in a graceful manner to anyone who walks through the door” according to their website. The location of this cafe is helpful for numerous reasons, one of which is that they could be potential partners with this project for future endeavors.

DEMOGRAPHIC MAP.

This map shows the racial demographics that the site is located in and is directly adjacent to. Since the site is situated on the southern side of the downtown, this allows access to all of the predominant races found in Omaha - White, Hispanic, Black, and Asian. The White population consists of 73.6%, the Hispanic population consists of 14.0%, Black population consists of 12.0%, and the Asian population consists of 4.0%. This accessibility is a very key part of this project in order to provide as equitable access to the site as possible to further help all individuals coming to the project to feel included and welcomed.

BUILDING ANALYSIS

BEIGE BRICK

CURTAIN WALLS

BLACK ME TAL RAILINGS

NEON LIGHTING

BLACKEXPO SED CEILING

PRIMARY C OLORTILES

EXISTING STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS

EXISTING CIRCULATION

LEVEL 1 NO SCALE

LEGEND:

PRIMARY CIRCULATION

SECONDARY CIRCULATION

LEVEL 2 NO SCALE

LEGEND:

PRIMARY CIRCULATION

SECONDARY CIRCULATION

USER PROFILES

JASMINE JACKSON

AGE: 18

GRADE/OCCUPATION: High School Senior

WISHES: To volunteer at a local food pantry, and take nutrition classes at the same place.

Jasmine Jackson is a Black high school senior from a lowincome neighborhood in Omaha. She is a talented writer and storyteller, and she is eager to use her skills to raise awareness about important issues affecting her community. In the meantime, she wants to volunteer at a food pantry and learn more about food nutrition via classes.

KATIE JOHNSON

AGE: 24

GRADE/OCCUPATION: College Graduate

WISHES: To find a food pantry that has healthy produce and a welcoming atmosphere.

Katie Johnson, a 24-year-old social work graduate from a low-income family in a rural Midwestern town, is looking for a food pantry that provides healthy produce in a welcoming environment in Omaha, NE. She is passionate about addressing social and economic disparities and making a positive impact in her community. She is excited to do so with her new degree.

DERRICK JONES

AGE: 40

GRADE/OCCUPATION: N/A

WISHES: To take part in a food-service program that is open and inviting.

Derrick Jones seeks an open and welcoming food-service training program to turn his life around. He’s looking for a program that can offer him a fresh start and a welcoming environment. He is eager to learn and is willing to work hard to achieve his goals. With the right training and support, he is excited to start his culinary career.

MAGGIE LILLIGREN

AGE: 60

GRADE/OCCUPATION: Various Jobs

WISHES: To be able to have access to fresh, healthy produce at a local farmer’s market.

Maggie Lilligren has faced many challenges in her life. She grew up on the reservation and has worked various jobs to provide for her family. Maggie is now searching for a food pantry that can provide her with fresh produce at a local farmer’s market. Despite the difficulties she’s faced, she is committed to upholding her culture and being a light for others.

DESIGN STATEMENT

Located in downtown Omaha, it seeks to provide a community space where visitors are provided and educated about food. The first floor consists of the food pantry, main flexible dining/lounge, food redistribution area, and storage spaces. The second floor consists of office space and teaching kitchens.

The entire design revolves around this idea of being a place where people can thrive through the food access and food/ nutrition education that occurs here, hence the name “Thrive,” which was inspired by the Casting Crown’s song of the same name. Specifically, the lyrics “we were made to more than just survive, we were made to thrive.” The album cover has a tree on it, which will ultimately be the logo of Thrive, and dictates the current material choices, with very natural, earthy tones, and tree influences. Another aspect that drove the project’s materiality was the idea of using the project to challenge how people think of food pantries, in terms of materiality and feel. In this thinking, the food pantry was designed to be more like a smaller market, to normalize the entire project and be more empathetic to the user.

This created a unique branding opportunity for both abstracting the original tree motif into various material choices, as well as incorporating murals communicating the Thrive nonprofit’s missions.

FINAL DELIVERABLES

LEGEND:

1.VESTIBULE ................................ 112

2. FOOD PANTRY ............................ 2241 SF

3. MAIN DINING/LOUNGE .............. 4061 SF

4. MEN’S BATHROOM ..................... 146 SF

5. WOMEN’S BATHROOM ............... 166 SF

6. STAIR 1 ...................................... 287

7. FOOD PACKAGING AREA ........... 2699

8. STAIR 2 ...................................... 152

9. FOOD STORAGE ......................... 705

10. UTILITY ROOM ......................... 160

11. CIRCULATION .......................... 562 SF

12. MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL ..... 161 SF

13. STAIR 3 .................................... 176 SF

14. STAIR 1 .................................... 287 SF

15. VOLUNTEER LOCKER AREA ..... 317 SF

16. W0MEN’S BATHROOM .............. 252 SF

17. MEN’S BATHROOM ................... 212 SF

18. STORAGE/UTILITY ROOM ........ 159 SF

19. TEACHING KITCHEN 1 ............. 1240 SF

20. TEACHING KITCHEN 2 ............. 876 SF

21. GREENHOUSE ......................... 829 SF

22.OPEN OFFICE ........................... 1476 SF

23. PRIVATE OFFICE 1 ................... 133 SF

24. PRIVATE OFFICE 2 ................... 156 SF

25. PRIVATE OFFICE 3 ................... 156 SF

26.CONFERENCE ROOM ............... 481 SF

27. VOLUNTEER AREA .................. 788 SF

28. HUDDLE ROOM 1 ..................... 95 SF

29. HUDDLE ROOM 2 ..................... 94 SF

30. TEACHING KITCHEN 3 ............. 773 SF

31. CIRCULATION ......................... 1856 SF

LEGEND: SECTION 1

ROOM KEY:

1. MAIN DINING/LOUNGE

2. STAIRCASE 1

3. GREENHOUSE

4. TEACHING KITCHEN 2

5. TEACHING KITCHEN 3

ROOM KEY:

1. FOOD PACKAGING AREA 6. LE VEL 2 CIRCULATION/VOLUNTEER

2. FOOD PANTRY LOCKER AREA

3. MAIN DINING/LOUNGE 7. T EACHING KITCHEN 2

4. VOLUNTEER AREA

5. STAIRCASE

LEVEL 1 REFLECTED CEILING PLAN

1/8” = 1’

LEGEND:

INCANDESCENT LIGHTS

HERMAN MILLER NELSON

BUBBLE BALL PENDANT

FIXT ELECTRIC CZECH

WAREHOUSE PENDANT

ARKTURA BLOOM

ACOUSTICAL PANELS

CUSTOM HANGING CEILING ELEMENT

LEVEL 2 REFLECTED CEILING PLAN

1/8” = 1’

LEGEND:

INCANDESCENT LIGHTS

HOOD VENTS

GREENHOUSE INDUSTRIAL PENDANT LIGHTING

ARKTURA BLOOM

ACOUSTICAL PANELS

ARKTURA ACOUSTICAL CEILING BAFFLES

TECHNICAL COMPONENT

IceStone USA Recycled Glass Countertop in Sage Pearl

Wilsonart Plastic Laminate in Frishton Ash

Brushed Stainless Steel

MATERIALS + FINISHES

MATERIAL BOARD KEY:

1. Arktura Bloom Acoustical Ceiling Panels

11. Sherwin Williams Lark Green (SW 6745)

2. Carnegie Maze Print 6994 | 104

12. Sherwin Williams Wondrous Blue (SW 6807)

3.9Wood 1300 Lay-In Grille

13. Herman Miller Always Side Chair

4. Wilsonart Friston Ash 8229 Plastic Laminate

14. Herman Miler Colourform Sofa

5. Tarkett iQ Granit Acoustic - Granit DARK CONCRETE 0215

15. Hayworth Triangle Leg Table

6. NEMO Tile & Stone Handwritten Inkwell Leaf Mosaic Pen Pal

16. Her man Miller Layout Studio Office Benching System

7. 9Wood 0100 Trims

17. HAY About a Stool

8. IceStone Recycled Countertop in Sage Pearl

9. J+J Flooring Groop Kinetex Flooring Game Changer 1851Moment 3439

10. Sherwin Williams Alabaster White (SW 7008)