The Nourish Hub
The Nourish Hub provides community facilities which enable local people to come together to cook, eat and learn about how to eat more healthily. As well as working as a commercial kitchen, the Hub provides training for local people to develop their culinary skills.
We were asked to be involved at an early stage of this exciting project to ensure it met high level access ambitions.
Located in a former Post Office building in a parade of shops in Shepherd’s Bush Market in London, RCKa were appointed by Hammersmith & Fulham Council to refurbish this disused space and developed the design of the Hub together with the local community and key stakeholders.
As part of their design process, we were asked to be involved from the outset to ensure the project met high level access ambitions.
Carrying out an initial access audit
We visited the site before work started to assess the building for any barriers and to identify anything that needed changing to make it accessible. This process included reviewing RCKa’s proposed designs.
As a result of being involved at such an early stage, we were able to recommend a number of key features to ensure the Hub is accessible to as many people as possible. These included:
- The creation of two entrances; one for the café/kitchen and the other for the offices. Both entrances lead to a large open plan eating area and a kitchen teaching space
- New accessible toilets
- An accessible shower
- One ambulant disabled facility. This is suitable for people who don’t need the extra space provided by accessible toilets, but still need more room than in a standard facility, such as people with sticks or walking frames. The space included grabrails, an 800 x 750mm manoeuvring space clear of door swing and an outward opening door.
Ensuring the teaching facilities were accessible
Proudlock also gave advice on how to make the commercial kitchen fully accessible, which was particularly important as the kitchen also doubles-up as a teaching space.
Consisting of six workstations, each with its own 4 ring hob, we recommended the following:
- 1500mm clear space in front of, and between, all counters.
- Two workstations at a lower height of 760mm to make them accessible to wheelchair users, children, and people of shorter stature. These have a width of 800mm and clear height of 700mm underneath to allow close approach and access by wheelchair users.
- Insulation added to the underside of the hobs with knee space
- Four workstations at a standard height of 912mm for taller and standing users
- The best location for hobs, fridges and cookers.
Officially opened by the Duchess of Cornwall in February 2022, the Hub is an award-winning community food centre that aims to reduce dependency on food banks in west London. It’s also a great example of how easy it is to make a space fully accessible simply by involving access consultants at an early stage of a project.
The Nourish Hub went on to win the Inclusive Design Award at the EG Awards.
