Ocean Beach People’s Organic Food Market, all photos by Hewitt and Garrison Photography.
O. B. People’s Market was established in 1976 as a co-op and has maintained itself in the community as a place for activism, alternative health, and organic food. The existing site, along Voltaire Street, is within a diverse collection of small-scale commercial businesses. The new store fits well within the neighborhood, providing needed services at an appropriate community scale. The new 13,000 square foot store includes space for general grocery, check-out, stock rooms, delivery yard, walk-in coolers, administrative offices, kitchen, deli, meeting rooms and on-site parking for 36-cars.
Spaces are arranged around a large, open market hall, which allows customers and employees to stay visually connected and encourages interaction. The building uses products that have low environmental impact and/or take advantage of long life cycle. It maximizes the use of daylight and natural ventilation (no air conditioning), limiting energy consumption. The building offsets its energy demands by the use of a 30 kilowatt photo-voltaic grid on the roof (additional panels are planned to cover parking areas). Overall, the building outperforms the minimum Title 24 requirements by 35.3%.
Architect: ARCHITECTS hanna gabriel wells (Jim Gabriel, Randy Hanna, Matt Wells, Vince Stroop, Anja Aigner, Rika Alavi, Adrienne Gabriel)
Structural Engineer: KPFF Consulting Engineers (Eric Lehmkuhl)
Green Building Products: Lynn Froeschle, AIA
Electrical: ILA+Zammitt Engineers (Keith Thompson)
Mechanical: McParlane and Associates (Genko Ganev)
Energy Analysis: Brummitt Engineering (Beth Brummitt)
Environmental Consultant: Jim Bell
General Contractor: Peterbuilt Corporation
Project Photography: Hewitt and Garrison Photography
Originally published 2nd quarter 2004 in arcCA 04.2, “Small Towns.”
