A community food pantry under construction in downtown Ottawa

The refrigerator and the shelves of the project called Public Food are already housed in a small structure on Ottawa Community Housing Corporation (OCH) land at 415 MacLaren.

Students stayed in Ottawa after their semester ended to build this pantry they designed as part of a seminar by Professor Menna Agha.

Dr. Agha says the build has to be finished by the end of the week, because these students are leaving for the summer, and because the sustained effort to finish it is now hurting every muscle in her body, she said. -she summed up to CBC taking a break from sanding and staining.

The course in question focuses on how architecture can be put to the service of a community, explains Ms. Agha. How can we design projects for people who usually can’t afford to hire us?she summarizes.

We’ve seen that many of these pantries can be fitted just enough to house a refrigerator while not taking up too much space. They work great in different contextsdetails Thompson Nguyen, who completed the Masters in Architecture from Carleton and is leading the project Public Food.

We just wanted to do something that could be a little biggerhe adds.

During a workshop with their community partners, the students clearly understood that it would be important for the construction to be worthy and of good quality. The plans were also reviewed from top to bottom for their accessibility, from the access ramp to the colors planned for the paint of the walls.

According to Menna Agha, the united church Glebe-St. james had worked hard to make the pantry project a reality. Church volunteers will maintain the space, while LCO will provide electricity.

Public Food Centretown is another example of how partners can come together to help residents and address food insecurity, which is a real and widespread problem in our communities. says a spokesperson for LCO in an email.

Accessible to everyone

The need for a resource like this has become very evident over the past few years, notes Ms. Agha. Inflation, the fact that the western part of the district is a food desert as well as the economic challenges linked to COVID-19 have contributed to this.

The open shelving wall has been designed to avoid health and safety issues associated with enclosed spaces. In particular, it has a large roof to protect from the rain. The temperature is also controlled here, so that the food remains safe to eat at any time of the year.

I just arrived in Canada and the first thing I did here in the winter was learn the hard way. If you forget your groceries in the car at night, you’ll run out of groceriesillustrates Menna Agha.

The pantry will be accessible to all. The golden rule will be take what you need, and leave what you can.

This new resource will be useful, for example, to people who are anxiously awaiting their next paycheck, or to others who are going on a trip and who do not want to throw food that is still fresh in their refrigerator, suggests the architect. .

Menna Agha says she has a child herself who is sometimes choosy. She plans to leave the foods she doesn’t like in the pantry.

The project will also include a selection of herbs, onions and other edible plants that can be picked as needed.

With information from Sara Frizzell, CBC