Public Buildings • Nourish Hub

A place for people to come together, support one another and learn essential life skills.

LB Hammersmith & Fulham has the highest dependency on food banks in London and there are a huge proportion of people who are food insecure. Nourish Hub addresses this acute need while using food as a medium to support the most socially isolated in society.

Visit Nourish Hub on any given weekday and you will find one of the most diverse, inclusive and supportive civic spaces in London. From the sociable nature of sharing food, to opportunities for personal and professional development afforded via its training kitchen and education programme – Nourish engages the community in the full process of growing, cooking and eating healthy food.

The Hub’s impact was felt almost immediately: bringing local people back into employment, serving and delivering over 4,000 ‘meals on wheels’ in its first 4 months, and supporting children with activities and learning programmes. Within a year of opening, it was estimated that the Hub had connected with and helped over 35,000 people.

100+ 'donate as you dine' served a day

4,309 'meals on wheels' delivered in the first 4 months

80% sourced from rescued food

"Nourish Hub offers a model that might be adopted elsewhere”

Chris Foges, Contributing Editor, RIBA Journal

Reactivating the high street

The project is the result of a successful partnership between UKHarvest – a not-for-profit charity on a mission to eliminate hunger and food waste through education – and LB Hammersmith & Fulham, with additional funding through the Greater London Authority’s flagship Good Growth Fund.

The Nourish Hub replaces a vacant post-office in a prominent high street location, breathing new life into a underutilised public asset. In its place is a thriving community facility where learning about healthy eating and cooking food – as a common, social and community activity – connects diverse cultures, teaches meaningful skills and brings people together.

Since opening, local authorities and socially-minded developers have looked to Nourish as a model for how to connect with residents, deliver effective services and create more inclusive places.

"They really tuned into not only the aspirations for the hub but the practicalities. They have led this design process with integrity, professionalism and passion.”

Yvonne Thomson, CEO, UKHarvest

Fostering local ownership and identity

At the outset, few local people had heard of UKHarvest or their ambitious plans to tackle health inequalities in the area. To raise awareness, we held a community paint & planting day during which the tired security shutters were given a new lease of life. The activity on site encouraged passers-by to stop and speak with the team, providing opportunities for conversations with residents and new connections.

As proposals developed, each part of the engagement process had a tangible output manifest in the final space including designs for tiles, a ceiling mural, and other features such as colour and furnishings. Focused sessions ran alongside larger events, including two branding workshops delivered in partnership with a local youth centre during which young people learnt the basics of graphic design using vegetables sourced from Shepherds Bush Market. Their designs were used to generate graphics for the interior of the Nourish Hub.

Drawings

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"RCKa were incredible during the tender process... The most important thing that they have done is listen. They really tuned into not only the aspirations for the hub but the practicalities."

Yvonne Thomson, CEO, UKHarvest

 

 

An inclusive design that supports diversity

 

This is UKHarvest’s first permanent space, but the design draws on years of experience in food education. Getting people through the door is the first challenge, so Nourish Hub has an open and welcoming relationship with the street, incorporating expansive glazing and servery windows that allow the chefs to lean out and talk to passers-by.

At either end of the main dining space two kitchens offer different functionality – a fully fitted catering kitchen for professional training and batch cooking, and a teaching kitchen with a more domestic look and feel incorporating cooking stations for people of all ages and abilities.

Meanwhile, the versatile main space can be used as a dining room, workspace, classroom or event venue, and is carefully designed to be accessible to a wide range of users, including lowered surfaces that cater for wheelchair users and a curtain that supports those with specific privacy needs.

Winner

  • Civic Trust Awards, 2024
  • Planning Awards, 2022
  • Pineapples Activation: Re-Store 2022
  • MacEwan Award, 2022
  • New London Awards (Community Prize), 2021
  • New London Awards (Mayor’s Prize), 2021

Finalist

  • RIBA London Regional Awards, 2023
  • Architecture Awards, 2022

Client
London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
Mayor of London

Key Stakeholder
UKHarvest

Completed
2021

Location
Hammersmith, London

Project Team
Tom Hart
Anthony Staples
Rhiona Williams
Shukri Elmi

Graphic Design
Bandiera

Collaborators
Inner Circle Consulting

Photography
RCKa
Francisco Ibanez Hantke

Related project

TNG Youth & Community Centre

Project list