Cohousing-L Mailing List: Common House kitchens

[ann zabaldo (zabaldo]

Hi everyone!

In addition to finishing our by-laws, we are in the midst of
designing our CH kitchen.  I know there's been lots of talk over the
years about kitchens on this list.  But I don't recall this
particular question.  If my memory is faulty please forgive the
repetitious question.

This is about whether to have an "open" kitchen or a "closed"
kitchen.  That is, a kitchen that is designed w/ only 3 complete
walls so one can easily see into the kitchen and easily see and talk
to people working or have a kitchen w/ all four walls that has pass
throughs for getting food and returning dirty dishes etc. (I hope I
described this ok!)

The "open" kitchen is seen as increasing the friendly atmosphere of
the CH and being less commercial.  The "closed" kitchen is seen as
providing a more structured space for cooking, enhancing efficiency
thus making sure the meals are prepared on time w/out interference
from residents casually walking by and trying to start a
conversation.  (Fewer interruptions.)  The "closed" design is seen as
being less noisy overall.

We are interested in the following:

1.    What type of kitchen does your CH have?  (Open/closed)
2.    What are the pluses and minuses of the kitchen you have?  (In
terms of it being "open" or "closed?"  Please don't consider the
particular layout -- that is relationship of various working places
to each other or whether or not you have commercial or residential
equipment, etc unless you feel these things were enhanced or
restricted by the overall open or closed off design.  We're
interested in the overall design and how well the *design* works.)
3.    How many times per week do you have meals?  (These are meals
prepared for the whole community -- please don't include "supper
clubs.")
4.    Approximately how many adults do you serve at each meal?
5.    What do you think is the overall contribution of the design of
your CH kitchen to the CH and to the community in general?
(Example:  enhances the friendly feeling of CH; meal preparation is
faster etc.)

Please feel free to write anything else about how the overall design
of the kitchen influences/contributes to your community.

If I see any trends in these responses I'll post the results back to
the listserv.

Thanks all!
--
_______________________
Best -- Ann Zabaldo
Zabaldo [at] earthlink.net

Takoma Village Cohousing is now a
*PATH Demonstration Project (Partnership for Advancing
Technology in Housing) for HUD.  We have received $35,000
from HUD for consulting fees to help us determine which
energy systems and green materials are appropriate for our
community.

TVC:

*first URBAN community in the mid-Atlantic
*Groundbreaking mid-Sept
*Ribbon cutting late March 2000
We expect to have a healthy waiting list by groundbreaking
Email me for more details.  Or visit our
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