Naomi Ono Kern

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Community Compost Center
Dec. 2024





This hybrid-program community center is sited in the Mount Hope neighborhood of Providence, RI. Combining a small-scale industrial compost facility with a dining hall and public food pantry, it simultaneously serves to absorb ultra-local food waste (thus redirecting it from its methane-producing fate in the Johnston, RI landfill), produce nutritious finished compost for soil remediation projects across the city, provide access to free groceries and affordable fresh-cooked meals, offer employment and fair wages to job-insecure locals, and knit the community together across socioeconomic divisions.



The selected site integrates into existing city-wide networks of meal sites, food pantries, and compost collection centers. Its location in Mount Hope is surrounded by neighborhoods of varying wealth levels, facilitating informal socialization between residents across socioeconomic groups.





Compost production requires both “green” (nitrogen-rich, i.e. food scraps) and “brown” (carbon-rich, i.e. landscaping waste) material. Through the participation of four local partners and the local residential community, both types of compost ingredients are taken in daily.

Recoverable food (“unsellable” but perfectly edible grocery items) is also collected for on-site meal preparation to serve the communal dining hall. Excess recovered food is used to stock the food pantries.





The stepped roof provides access direct pedestrian access to the nearby park.
All residential, municipal, and commercial partners are within 1 mile of the site.

























Study + process models
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