Barelas Community Kitchen

In collaboration with Street Food Institute, MASS has completed the design of a new commissary kitchen located in Barelas, one of Albuquerque’s oldest and predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods. In 2020, Homewise partnered with NeighborWorks America and conducted the Voices of Barelas survey to identify needs within the community. Localized job training emerged as a high-priority realm for investment.

Street Food Institute (SFI) helps people realize the dream of owning and operating a successful food service business, a dream that for many was disrupted in 2020 following COVID-19. The new commissary kitchen will enable SFI to provide education and training in a lab format for small food businesses to develop recipes and concepts. The commissary kitchen will be a safe place for learning, from intergenerational teachings to shared cultural experiences and traditions.

The site is located on Fourth Street, an important commercial corridor in Barelas.  The commissary kitchen is nestled in between an adaptive reuse of existing buildings, a strategy that helps maintain the street edge condition and provides storefront spaces for SFI graduates. The design takes cues from the character of Barelas through its form, the strategic weaving of color through the tiled facades, and recessed openings for natural shading. The second level of the commissary kitchen includes nine units of office and artist spaces to support small business entrepreneurs.