Centretown’s kitchens are about to get a little bigger as Carleton University architecture students put the finishing touches on a community pantry they call Public Food.
The refrigerator and shelves are located in a 4 by 12 foot structure on the Ottawa Community Housing (OCH) lot at 415 MacLaren St.
The students stayed after the end of the semester to build the project they designed at the Menna Agha Community Care Architecture seminar.
Agha says it has to be done by the end of this week because the students are leaving for the summer and the push to finish hurts every muscle in her body: she paused to polish and stain the lining to talk to CBC.
The course looks at how architecture can work for a community, Agha said. “How do we design for people who can’t normally afford design help or the luxury of hiring or commissioning us?”
“We’ve seen that many of these pantries could be fitted just to hold the fridge and not take up too much space on site and work very well and in different environments,” said Thompson Nguyen, a graduate of Carleton’s master’s degree in architecture. and the Public Food project manager.
“We just wanted to imagine something that could be a little bigger.”
In a workshop with community partners, students felt “dignified” and quality design was important: the site also received a disability audit, which analyzed everything from the ramp to the colors of the planned mural.
An early representation of the Public Food refrigerator and pantry going up to 415 MacLaren St. in Centretown. (Submitted by Menna Agha)
Agha said the pantry idea was something from Glebe-St. James United Church pushed. Church volunteers will do the maintenance of the space, while OCH will provide electricity.
“The Public Food Centretown pantry and refrigerator project … is another amazing example of partners coming together to help residents and address food insecurity, which is a real and prevalent problem in our communities,” he said an OCH spokesman in an email.
Grab what you need, leave what you can
The need for projects like this has become very evident in recent years, Agha said, citing inflation, the fact that the western part of the neighborhood is a food desert, as well as the enduring economic challenges of COVID-19.
Learning from the pandemic, the open wall of the shelves was designed in such a way that there were no health and safety issues related to being in an enclosed area: it has a large cantilever to protect those sailing from the rain. It also has a controlled climate, so the food stays well at all times of the year.
“I’m new to Canada and the first thing I did here in the winter was learn the hard way – forget your groceries in the car at night, you no longer have groceries,” Agha said.
All in a day7: 37 Carleton Architecture students are building a new public pantry
Carleton Architecture students team up with members of the local community to bring a public food pantry and refrigerator to the city center.
He said the pantry will be for everyone, in one dam what you need, leave what you can model.
“That day of the month we all run out of pay and there’s nothing to eat at home. Maybe I’ll stop by and grab something to eat,” he said.
Or maybe you’re on your first trip in years and there’s food that’s still good in your fridge – the pantry is a good place to leave it, he suggested.
Agha has a small child who will not eat everything, so foods that are not a success with her child, she intends to pass on.
The back wall is green and you will have a selection of herbs, onions and other edible plants available to pick up as needed.