Elevation Foods

This design-build project consisted of a complete, “white box” renovation of an existing kitchen to transform the space into a ready-to-eat pot pie facility. The renovated space totaled 33,000 square feet and consisted of a refrigerated prep area, a high-care cooking area, blast freezers, a high-care refrigerated packaging area, a washroom, and freezer storage. NDBS designed and built the refrigeration and HVAC systems for the facility and moved some existing systems into the storage spaces from previous areas. The refrigeration systems for the prep area and blast freezers consisted of (4) and (2) evaporators respectively, each paired with ground-mounted condensers. The refrigerated packaging area is served by a hygienic air handling unit paired with a condenser for the cooling coils to hold 38F while introducing the necessary pressurization and ventilation. The unit can also switch into a clean-up mode to bring 15 ACH of warm air to accelerate drying time. In the cooking area, multiple kitchen hoods are installed over mixing kettles and ovens. The hoods have individual exhaust fans. A makeup air unit provides the necessary outside air for the hoods while a DOAS unit provides conditioning and additional makeup air as required.