The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank project has finished. Sure there are a few minor punch list items, but the job is done and the facility is back up and running strong. We started with a goal to add warehouse space, vegetable storage space, and to provide adequate office space.
The facility now has a clean room that allows processing bulk foods into manageable sizes. The cooler allows for multiple tractor trailers full of fresh vegetables. The warehouse space that had been used for office space prior to the renovation has been converted back into warehouse space.
Project Update: Blue Ridge Area Food Bank – Verona
The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank building is in the final weeks of construction. Nielsen Builders have been working hard to deliver the design as developed. The warehouse addition provides a huge amount of new space for providing food to those in need living in our community. This addition specifically provides space to have more fresh produce available to those needing help. It also provides a space for processing bulk foods into smaller quantities giving more flexibility to what is accepted and provided.
The front addition is office space. The facility as you might remember used to have a small farmhouse that was limping along as the office space. This two-story structure provides the needed space for staff to operate that business of provided healthy food to their agencies.
As a reminder, this is where we started.
This was one of the first sketch elevations we developed.
Progress is being made and the details are emerging at the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank building in Verona. The walls are in place, the siding is being installed, and the demolition is complete.
The front office is two stories tall giving space for the entire staff in one location. The aesthetic of the office space is simple but brings a touch of style to the warehouse aesthetic.
The rear warehouse addition will provide space that allows the Food Bank to provide more fresh vegetables to their clients. This impressive structure takes storage high in the space to maximize the square footage available. Once the frame is complete, the floor will be poured and the wall panels installed.
Back at the front of the property, the office has the siding installed and the windows will be in soon. Once the building is weather tight, the interior finishes can begin.
The work continues at the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank in Verona even with the cold weather. We have gone from old farm-house to no building to finally a new office taking shape. In the rear you can now see where the warehouse addition will take shape as demolition has started.
Inside the building office spaces are starting to take shape.
In the rear, demolition has started and the footings have been poured.
I absolutely love working with clients who daily work to make our community a better place. Attending a job meeting where the design goals are “to make the building functional, humble, and affordable so that we can best serve our community” inspires me to be better. I want to be a better architect for them. I want to be a better community member for them. I want to be a better supporter for them. These are the clients that make my job so enjoyable.
Now the test of my work has begun, the construction process has started at the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank. Now we find out if I was able to achieve their building goals to increase their productivity and capacity to serve the community. This stage of construction is focused on the office portion of the site and prep work in the existing warehouse. The rear parking lot grading is done and the storm water control systems have been installed. This project is a difficult balance between keeping the warehouse functioning while the construction process is moving forward. The site supervisor for Nielsen Builders has to maintain an open road to the rear of the warehouse for daily (sometimes feels like hourly) food delivery and pick up, while keeping construction workers safe and productive. The work is steady and moving forward – I cannot wait to see the office walls go up around this stair tower.
