LA COCINA KITCHEN INCUBATOR & FOLSOM STREET HOUSING
>

Set within an established residential area of the Mission and on the site of a former commercial building, this new “Kitchen Incubator” was developed along with three townhouses and organized around a new landscaped courtyard. The kitchen incubator is located on Folsom Street and run as a nonprofit to train low-income women trying to develop viable catering businesses. The building includes an entry, office and loading area at the front, the large kitchen at the back, and storage and break space upstairs. The kitchen itself is a large 1 1/2-story space with natural daylight introduced through north-facing clerestory windows. Two cooking lines, four prep areas, one cleanup area and a walk-in refrigerator/freezer were carefully coordinated within the central kitchen space. The main Folsom Street facade speaks to the commercially scaled functions within, while relating to the more delicate, residential scale of its neighbors.

AWARDS

AIA San Francisco, Excellence in Architecture Merit Award, 2007
Architectural Foundation of San Francisco, Kirby Ward Fitzpatrick Prize, Firm Excellence in Design Award, 2006
Curbed SF, ‘Best New Buildings of the Decade,’ 2009
AIA San Francisco Home Tour, 2006