Wasn’t totally sure where to toss sort of thing out there, but I figure a lot of folks at MakeICT would be thinking on the same wavelength, and I’ve been tossing this idea back and forth for a bit now so could probably get some good feedback here.
The basic elevator pitch is that a makerspace’s great strength is that for a low monthly membership, you get access to this vast amount of expensive equipment that’d be impractical for most to have access to. This principle can be applied elsewhere, to cooking: a lot of folks like to prep cook for the week, but doing so in a cramped kitchen can be very difficult and disruptive. Even just enjoying a full course meal can be difficult without having access to all the utensils, pots, pans, and general cooking implements needed. So a “cookspace” would be a place with all of that provided, in a larger space, where folks could pay monthly dues to come in and cook. It would probably also have a space to actually eat a meal, if you weren’t just prep cooking, and could have minifridges / sectioned off regular fridges that provide storage options with membership.
The main hurdles I’d see with this would be as follows:
1)Health code. It seems like it’s a pretty big grey area with the health department as to whether or not this would actually qualify as a commercial food preparation space, but regardless, it would need to be kept sanitary. If members are serving food to others, there’s a question of if food safety cards would be necessary. Strictly enforcing a “clean as you go” etiquette will help but it’ll take dedicated volunteers to ensure deep cleanings are done regularly. Given that this would not be a commercial environment where rapid-food-prep is being done though, I think a bit of industrial engineering can be applied as well to minimize hard-to-clean spaces that would ordinarily limit efficiency in a commercial setting.
2)Allergies. If any member can come in and cook anything, it’s going to exclude folks with food allergies. Subareas would need to be sectioned off for particular allergies.
3)User error / insurance / common sense. A communal cook area is going to be a high risk location. Fires are inevitably going happen, so there’s going have to be a copious amount of fire extinguishers around to satisfy any insurance underwriter. Becoming a “vetted” member with 24/7 access would definitely require a couple safety classes. Little things like making sure people aren’t chopping their fingers off would make for a lot of trial and error when it comes to implementing particular policies and rules.
4)Electricity. Most buildings aren’t set up for multiple fridges, stoves, ovens, washing machines, etc. Any space it occupied would likely need an extensive upgrade to its electrical system to accommodate. The electric bill will then likely be an absolute killer.
There’s definitely some core hurdles to overcome if it were to ever be implemented, but I think it has promise, and I imagine a lot of these concerns, like safety and member conduct, were issues for MakeICT back in the beginning (and maybe even a bit into the modern day). It could be a really powerful thing for a community though, being able to go to a place where you’re not going to destroy your kitchen doing a big cook project. There’s a lot to be said about making things a lot easier if you’re in a space specifically dedicated for it, in the same way that it’s easier to do projects at MakeICT and not destroy the space in the process, while the same project might result in your house getting all cluttered if done at home.
Like I said, I’ve been bouncing it around for a bit, and would definitely be interested in ideas / flaws folks see to try to refine it to the point where maybe it can be tried to be implemented in the future.