The abandoned supermarket on the site demonstrates the lack of basic food services in this neighborhood of Pittsburgh. In addition the area has a diverse population of college students, young professionals, and urban poor. The self-defined program combines aspects of public market, restaurant, soup kitchen, and community cooking and educational center.

The architecture extends the unique checkered facade of the old supermarket.  It extends over the site and creates surfaces that could vary in transparency based on the privacy of the program element contained. The market area slices through the middle, forming a main path through the buildings. This indoor/outdoor element links all the programs and allows for the different users to have a common experience in transversing the site.