Karma Food Co-op

Karma Co-op is a non-profit member owned and operated food store that emphasizes organic and local foods and environmentally responsible products. The forty-seven year old co-op is located in the heart of Seaton Village. 

With the requirement of having to replace many of the large coolers, the co-op undertook to renovate their entire store with the goals of a more sustainable store, bringing in more daylight and a clearer organization of the store’s layout. 

By taking a complete inventory of all of the stores shelving units, display cases, coolers, etcetera, we were able to illustrate the implications of the different designs and facilitate the decisions. We worked closely with the building committee and the previous work of the co-op’s focus groups to complete a design that was approved at the annual general meeting in October. The construction was phased during the summer, allowing the store to remain open.

The intention of the design was to modernize the store while retaining the rustic quality of the old bakery building. We removed the suspended ceiling to expose the wood rafters. This was able to be accomplished by replacing the roof membrane and providing insulation above the roof deck.