The UNITY Pavilion provides a space for cooking, eating, and storytelling within the NCH Community garden in the Hunters Point neighborhood of San Francisco.
Since 2011, the NCH CommUNITY Garden program has been working to provide a safe place for youth and young adults to work cooperatively growing and distributing organic produce free of charge to residents. The garden is located in what is considered a food desert; there is a documented lack of access to healthy food affordable organic produce. In addition to growing and distributing fresh produce, the garden is a safe place where no violence is acceptable and is a sanctuary.
The design and program of the gathering space is inspired by the history of food in the Bayview and Hunters Point neighborhoods. Before WWII, the hills and bays of this area were home to vegetable gardens, a shrimping industry, grazing lands and the meat industry. This rich and varied history of food growing, production and distribution is also bound to the many immigrant communities that have populated and cared for the land and its buildings. The UNITY pavilion and the NCH garden together aim to create a place that will honor and reintroduce this connection to the land.
The design was derived from several community and youth workshops together with feedback from the NCH garden volunteers. Designed as a series of frames that look out onto the garden and the San Francisco Bay while providing shade, the pavilion provides respite and is a beacon at the top of the garden. With communal seating and a mobile kitchen table, the layout allows for community gatherings and cooking demonstrations.
The construction of the pavilion was measured and tested on full scale prototypes. These models were tested for constructability, structural systems, aesthetics and function. The prototypes enabled a final design that was comfortable, elegant and flexible.
A collaboration between:
Faculty: Sameena Sitabkhan, Eoanna Goodwin, Shaum Mehra
Students: Naomi Rojas, Shunyi Yang, Dylan Ingle, Rhonuel Domingcil, Fabio Lemos, Corona Xiaohuan Gao, Malak Bellajdel , Kenta Oye , Jacob Delaney, Harikrishna Patel, Daniel Cervantes / B.Arch
The NCH Garden Team
Northridge Cooperative Homes
City of San Francisco Community Challenge Grant
SF Parks Alliance
Literacy for Justice
Carl Wilford - Structural Consultant
BUILD Group Inc.
Since 2011, the NCH CommUNITY Garden program has been working to provide a safe place for youth and young adults to work cooperatively growing and distributing organic produce free of charge to residents. The garden is located in what is considered a food desert; there is a documented lack of access to healthy food affordable organic produce. In addition to growing and distributing fresh produce, the garden is a safe place where no violence is acceptable and is a sanctuary.
The design and program of the gathering space is inspired by the history of food in the Bayview and Hunters Point neighborhoods. Before WWII, the hills and bays of this area were home to vegetable gardens, a shrimping industry, grazing lands and the meat industry. This rich and varied history of food growing, production and distribution is also bound to the many immigrant communities that have populated and cared for the land and its buildings. The UNITY pavilion and the NCH garden together aim to create a place that will honor and reintroduce this connection to the land.
The design was derived from several community and youth workshops together with feedback from the NCH garden volunteers. Designed as a series of frames that look out onto the garden and the San Francisco Bay while providing shade, the pavilion provides respite and is a beacon at the top of the garden. With communal seating and a mobile kitchen table, the layout allows for community gatherings and cooking demonstrations.
The construction of the pavilion was measured and tested on full scale prototypes. These models were tested for constructability, structural systems, aesthetics and function. The prototypes enabled a final design that was comfortable, elegant and flexible.
A collaboration between:
Faculty: Sameena Sitabkhan, Eoanna Goodwin, Shaum Mehra
Students: Naomi Rojas, Shunyi Yang, Dylan Ingle, Rhonuel Domingcil, Fabio Lemos, Corona Xiaohuan Gao, Malak Bellajdel , Kenta Oye , Jacob Delaney, Harikrishna Patel, Daniel Cervantes / B.Arch
The NCH Garden Team
Northridge Cooperative Homes
City of San Francisco Community Challenge Grant
SF Parks Alliance
Literacy for Justice
Carl Wilford - Structural Consultant
BUILD Group Inc.
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