share food program

Life Safety Upgrades & Master Plan

LOCATION: Philadelphia, PA

STATUS: Under Construction

YEAR: 2017-Present

Share Food Program, Inc. is a non-profit serving as a distribution point for the region’s food pantries and public school lunch programs. it occupies a 130,000 sf warehouse dating from the 1930s.

The initial project, funded by RACP, involved removing a crumbling penthouse from the roof and installing new roofing, followed by an emergency repair of the exterior wall which had cracked due to inadequate control joints.

After emergency projects were complete, the warehousebegan to handle additional frozen goods and to take on new programs, changing the needs of the structure.

Woodcock Design prepared space plans to support additional staff while developing a life safety design to restore aging sprinkler and fire alarm systems. Special challenges included coordinating multiple engineering design efforts to distill a path to the life safety solution. The solution was reviewed and approved by the City’s variance boards (BBS and Fire Board) and the initial phases of construction are underway.

Woodcock Design has continued working with a new leadership team to develop a $30M capital improvement master plan. This plan includes concept design for a green roof, storm water management, community gardens, event and office space. the master plan has been used to generate funding including a recent major gift of $10M from the Specter family.

The first phases of the Master Plan are under construction including roof replacement and upgrades to the site stormwater management system.