Hunger Mountain Co-op
Montpelier, VT
Category Sustainability Features•Energy recovery system
•High performance building envelope
•Free air cooling system
A Food Co-op Designed for Community
The Hunger Mountain Co-op, a hub of the local community, has an informal layout similar to a marketplace which encourages interaction and chance meeting amongst shoppers. The interior space is continuous and interwoven, a flowing spatial sequence where products are clearly displayed on the ground floor, leading to a deli and riverside café at one end, and checkout areas with open mezzanine offices above at the other.
The shed structures are simple, their forms distinguished by the use of varied siding materials, and skylights and clerestory windows provide ample daylight into the interior of the large building. The co-op is a high performance building with: a superior thermal envelope; energy recovery systems that use waste heat from compressors and other mechanical equipment; and cooling systems that use outside air in winter months.
The cooperative is in Montpelier’s riverfront redevelopment zone next to historic granite sheds, where it is linked to downtown by a bike/pedestrian path.
