Rising to the challenge of restoring  access to healthy, affordable food in urban communities lacking supermarkets

Contact: Carryn Golden, Community Design Collaborative  215.587.9290  carryn@cdesignc.org

Philadelphia, PA – September 8, 2008 –On Tuesday, September 16^th, the Community Design Collaborative, with partners The Reinvestment Fund and The Food Trust, will present the results of Infill Philadelphia: Food Access, a design challenge dedicated to expanding food retail options for neighborhoods in desperate need of healthier food. The Collaborative’s volunteer designers are excited to reveal three designs that respond to the need for improved access to fresh, affordable food in urban communities lacking supermarkets—often referred to as “food deserts”.

In May 2008, three volunteer design firms: Agoos/Lovera Architects; KSS Architects LLP, and Interface Studio Architects LLP signed on for the challenge. They have collaborated over the past few months with community-based organizations dedicated to improving food access in the Philadelphia area. The project sites, which range considerably in scale and retail format, include: retrofitting a corner grocery as a neighborhood food co-op, transforming a vacant warehouse into a large food co-op and retail anchor for a re-born business district, and developing a supermarket on a challenging urban infill site.

A jury that includes a supermarket operator, a real estate developer, a grocery store designer, and representatives of other related disciplines, will review the projects at a final public presentation of the design concepts on Tuesday, Setpember 16 at the Center for Architecture, 1218 Arch Street, from 4:00 to 6:30 p.m. Reception to follow!

The Food Access design challenge is the second of a three-phase initiative called Infill Philadelphia, which matches local design experts with community-based organizations to partner on site-specific design projects. The Collaborative created the initiative to demonstrate the possibilities of inventive design and its role in helping older communities re-envision the appearance of their neighborhoods while leveraging their existing physical assets in order to spark community reinvestment.

Project Sites and Teams:

STOREFRONT REUSE
The Project: Weavers Way, an established co-op and anchor in Mount Airy, has been offered the opportunity to open a satellite store in a prominent location along the Ogontz Avenue Commercial Corridor. The design team was changed to develop a fresh food market in a very small retail space, while considering options for using the second floor and an adjacent vacant lot.

The Team: Working closely with Weavers Way Community Programs, Agoos/Lovera Architects has developed a design that gives the community a view inside and space outside to shop, buy, and learn about locally grown food.

WAREHOUSE CONVERSION
The Project: A new co-op in Chester, PA is considering a four-story, 32,000 square-foot space in Chester’s central business district. The team was tasked with developing a design that will allow the co-op to grow in phases and best utilize the upper floors and two adjacent lots.

The Team: Working with Chester’s Community Charitable Corporation, KSS Architects LLP brings a big building down to scale and repairs Chester’s frayed central business district.

URBAN SUPERMARKET
The Project: A triangular, 2.8-acre vacant parcel located in Philadelphia’s growing Brewerytown neighborhood is ripe for development. The team was charged with creating a conceptual design for a new 35,000 square-foot supermarket that will be attractive to a supermarket operator and serve as a gateway to the Girard Avenue Corridor.

The Team: Collaborating with the Girard Coalition, Inc., together with Westrum Development Company, Interface Studio Architects LLP designed a contemporary urban supermarket  that bridges the gap between Girard Avenue and Brewerytown.

Infill Philadelphia: Food Access is funded through the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative (FFFI), an innovative and a nationally-recognized leader in the movement to improve the urban food landscape. FFFI, a public/private venture that supports the financing needs of supermarket operators that plan top operate in underserved communities where infrastructure costs and credit needs cannot be filled solely by conventional financial institutions, has put the spotlight on the issue of food access and sparked a powerful dialogue about how to tackle the significant gap in urban and low-income communities.

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Community Design Collaborative is a community design center that provides pro bono preliminary design services to nonprofit organizations, offers unique volunteer opportunities to design professionals, and raises awareness about the importance of design in community revitalization. Founded in 1991 as a program of AIA Philadelphia, the Collaborative is an independent 501(c)(3) with a network of more than 600 volunteers.