The adaptive reuse and transformation of one-story warehouses into a welcoming, comprehensive, and dignified neighborhood food hub. The White Center neighborhood is rapidly transforming, making it difficult for longtime residents to access affordable housing, economic opportunities and amenities and services that help them thrive. This downtown food bank creates a crucial foothold for the community in an otherwise gentrifying area. As they say at the Center: “Providing nutritious food for everyone who needs support takes our entire community.”

The grocery and lobby for the food bank are along the street edge. Storefront windows were utilized for transparency and openness. The windows allow natural daylight into the space, increase safety by having eyes on the street, enhance the streetscape, and reinforces that this is a community space to be utilized by everyone without stigma. “Welcome” in multiple languages is carved into the reception desk.

Over 40 languages are spoken in White Center. The six most common (English, Cantonese, Arabic, Vietnamese, Spanish and Khmer) are painted at the building entrance and make up the donor wall, where buttons with donor names spell “community.”

A new, flush cold storage walk-in unit was a “must have” for the new warehouse area. In the future, photovoltaics on the roof will power a battery generator connected to the cold storage units so they will be operational during emergencies. The unit was paid for by a grant from the US Department of Agriculture.

White Center is known for its murals. They are used to dress up empty walls, to show cultural pride, advertise food and celebrate people. Local artists were commissioned to design and install two murals along the street. Food bank customers participated in the process, attending workshops to determine mural content, posing as models, and helping to paint the final artwork.

“[The center has] everything you could want. They have cilantro, onions for your chilis, salsa, guisada meat, and fresh tomatoes, always the best... The food bank, it’s like a gift. It’s like a gift from the community for people who are having a hard time finding food. You’re able to get all your food, you can get pastas, beans, flour, dairy and meats; they provide it all.”

—Angela Mae Hernandex, customer