Currently being house builders, we at Hammer & Hand devote a good deal of our time undertaking remodels, new residences, and the occasional industrial TI in Portland and Seattle. Although we satisfaction ourselves on being top-notch builders and fantastic associates of our communities, it is not normally that we get to be associated in a job that is created close to the thought of local community developing by itself. Doing work on the Alder Commons local community kitchen area construct-out was a uncommon take care of for us, and one that meant a large amount to lots of users of our staff.
For the uninitiated, Alder Commons is a nonprofit room built to facilitate multigenerational, multicultural community setting up and individual growth. They present a location for self-directed discovering in courses and workshops on a vast array of topics and for a varied array of peoples. From cooking lessons to bookshelf creating, artwork programs to homeschool hangouts for little ones in the LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC communities, Alder Commons serves as a local community crossroad for intersectional cultural appreciation and self-enhancement.
“Our mission is to cultivate an equitable, all-ages local community of self-directed learners. We purpose to lower boundaries between youth and grownups of numerous backgrounds by giving an available and inclusive house for them to share information and means.” (source: Alder Commons | Philosophy)
When the Alder Commons staff approached Hammer & Hand about making their group kitchen house, we ended up thrilled for the option to bring their aspiration to lifetime. The project was designed by Communitecture, a nearby architecture company with an eye for inventive community spaces and a mission for social justice. As standard builders with a emphasis in equally layout-driven assignments and progressing diversity, fairness, and inclusion in just our possess industry, it was a great in good shape for Hammer & Hand. We categorical our heartfelt gratitude to Alder Commons for choosing Hammer & Hand to develop a room that is now a commissary kitchen serving as dwelling foundation for 16 modest, the vast majority-QTBIPOC foodstuff and herbalism enterprises.
Discover a lot more about the mission of Alder Commons and look at out their calendar of gatherings at aldercommons.org
Back to Field Notes