Feeding America's Vision: Empowering Communities through Food & Manufacturing
Food and Community-Based Design
We believe
Communities & their stories should drive the architecture & engineering design conversation in creating neighborhood spaces where people feel valued.
Who We Are
LEO A DALY is a national, full-service architecture and engineering firm committed to enhancing the human experience. Our commercial market expertise spans food distribution centers, corporate headquarters, and nonprofit organizations—including food banks. These multi-functional facilities rely on our expertise in controlled temperature environments, efficient logistics, and workplace wellness to operate successfully.
Food Bank Design
Designing food banks means creating spaces that align with each organization’s unique mission and goals while balancing their operational needs. Efficient flow for food, staff, visitors, donors, and the community is essential for maintaining effective operations and fostering engagement. At the same time, the design must inspire and delight, creating an environment that uplifts those who visit and work there. This approach helps our clients achieve their goals, expand their reach, and strengthen their connection to the communities they serve.
$54M+
Of food bank/pantry space assessed, programmed, & designed in the last three years, providing a proven community-focused process that brings everyone to the table to help drive a solution.
80% 60M+ 45M+
Of our distribution projects have been for food clients, bringing innovative ways to our partners to enhance operational efficiencies while promoting nutrition, & sustainability.
SF of distribution/warehouse facilities designed, providing a critical understanding of how to balance operational needs like storage, security, adequate loading dock bays, waste streams, equipment charging stations, and efficient flow of food from the warehouse to the shopping area.
SF of office space and corporate branded environments designed, creating a human -centered environments that balance story-telling, efficiency, functionality, and employee wellbeing.
Second Harvest Heartland Foodbank, New Distribution Warehouse, & Volunteer Center & Office
220,000 SF 24 Loading Docks
Dedicated to community engagement, distribution, & a volunteer center.
To efficiently handle increased capacity to respond to future emergencies and disasters.
28,000 SF
Of cold/freezer storage & 51,000 SF of ambient storage.
Second Harvest Heartland (SHH) distributes nearly 90 million pounds of food and grocery products per year to the Twin Cities Metro and regional communities. LEO A DALY assisted SHH with the design of a new facility that increased capacity for distribution within the region to 150 million pounds a year and incorporated fresh food and produce into their distribution. The project was combined the following main components into one new facility:
25,000 SF Volunteer Center: The space increased capacity to 200+ production volunteers per shift.
10,000 SF Programed Support Spaces: Support the community through governmental program subsidies such as CSFP pick up locations for senior food packages, spaces for SNAP registration and outreach, as well as allow food shelves for individuals to shop.
30,000 SF Office & Support Areas: Supports 200+ employees and 50+ office volunteers.
150,000 SF Distribution Center: The new high pile rack storage distribution center provides five temperature zones.
“Our new facility enables us to not only increase our community connection and meet the extremely fast-growing need for our food resources, but it prepares us to be able to expand our services in the future. The flexible design provides us the space necessary to fully explore innovative ideas such as a commercial kitchen or other food production operations to meet the needs of our hungry neighbors.”
David Laskey, Director of Enterprise Efficiency & Facilities Management, Second Harvest Heartland
SIZE: 220,000 SF SCOPE: Architecture & engineering design and construction administration
Second Harvest of Silicon Valley
Headquarters, Distribution Warehouse, & Volunteer Center
Dedicated to community engagement, distribution, & a volunteer center.
To efficiently handle increased capacity to respond to future emergencies and disasters.
Of cold/freezer storage & 27,000 SF of ambient storage.
A staggering 1 in 6 people turn to Second Harvest of Silicon Valley for support in affluent Silicon Valley where food insecurity is higher than the national average. The organization partners with more than 400 local nonprofit and agency partners at over 900 food distribution sites to provide over 10 million pounds of nutritious food each month—including fresh fruit and vegetables, protein, dairy, grains and pantry staples In response to a significant increase in food demand over the past five years, Second Harvest must operate at a high level of efficiency to manage these growing volumes.
To better serve the community, Second Harvest is consolidating its multiple warehouses into a single headquarters that will provide expanded food handling and storage capacity, additional office space, and a dedicated area for volunteers. By unifying operations under one roof, Second Harvest will be better equipped to respond to the high daily demand for food assistance and flex to future emergencies and disasters.
“LEO A DALY understands that inclusivity of everyone involved in the food banking ecosystem is necessary to achieve the mission – to solve hunger. They understand how complicated and sophisticated food bank operations are and that we are at the center of a much broader regional food distribution network. LEO A DALY has planned and designed a building for us that has brought us to that “WOW” moment. We are confident the new facility will allow us to successfully serve, and be a valuable part of, the community while efficiently fulfilling the basic need of food assistance.”
Stan Edde, Chief Operating Officer, Second Harvest of Silicon Valley
SIZE: 242,520 SF SCOPE: Architecture & engineering design and construction administration
Kroger, Cincinnati Fresh Distribution Center
Distribution Warehouse
SF
Remodeled employee spaces that include dry grocery, maintenance, office and dock
SF
Of cold/freezer storage & 27,000 SF of ambient storage.
LEO A DALY Design
A Focus on Employee Engagement and Retention
Kroger, the largest supermarket chain in the U.S. considers their mission to “Feed the Human Spirit.” .
The goal of this project was to rethink the employee experience in distribution centers to attract, retain, and open lines of communication to create a sense of community in the workplace. .
Increasing brand identity in the facility was important to Kroger by using their vibrant and fresh palette and emphasizing key employee amenities to increase Pride-of Place.
Employee break space is centralized and used by all to encourage employees of all stripes – drivers, packers, executives, and administrators alike to develop close, trusting relationships.
SIZE: 435,000 SF SCOPE: Design, Architecture, Interior Design, Structural, Mechanical, Electrical and Civil Engineering
Shilo Cares Food Shelf
Distribution & Volunteer Center
43,000 SF
Remodeled employee spaces that include dry grocery, maintenance, office and dock
The expansion from 2,500 to 4,300 SF allowed for a series of strategic design enhancements:
Optimized Inventory Management: Improved food and nonperishable storage, handling, and distribution.
Enhanced User Flow: A dedicated check-in space streamlines the visitor experience. Retail-Inspired Layout: A re-imagined shopping and storage system creates a more intuitive and dignified environment.
Community Resource Integration: New spaces provide areas for outreach and support services.
Improved Accessibility: Increased restroom capacity and ADA-compliant upgrades ensure inclusivity.
Welcoming Café & Meal Pick-Up Area: A new café space fosters community connection and hospitality.
Design Inspiration: Balancing Community & Durability
At the heart of the redesign was the client’s vision for a welcoming, communityoriented space that prioritizes both durability and longevity. The selection of resilient materials ensures the facility can withstand high use while maintaining a warm and inviting atmosphere.
Through thoughtful planning and design, the Shiloh Cares Food Shelf now offers an enhanced experience for visitors and staff alike—supporting its vital mission with dignity, efficiency, and care.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Midlands, Headquarters & Volunteer Center
9,500 SF
Dedicated to community engagement & office space.
Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) of the Midlands worked with the LEO A DALY design team to fit out the interior office environment of the historic Harris Building located at 15th and Howard in Omaha, Nebraska. The space was created to serve as both an office environment for staff and as a gathering place for BBBS events including match days and other celebrations. The space was designed to be highly flexible, including mobile furniture that can be easily arranged for specific needs.
Additionally, branded lighting and graphics makes the space unique to BBBS while keeping the historic aesthetic of the original Harris Building, which includes exposed brick and concrete floors. A new interior steel canopy was designed to separate the interior work zones from the more collaborative areas and provides a structure for marker boards, pin-up boards, monitors and similar collaborative capabilities.
SIZE: 9,500 SF SCOPE: Programming, Architecture, Interior Design, Engineering, Construction Administration
Dollar General, San Antonio Distribution Center
LEO A DALY has a working relationship with Dollar General and was retained for the design of Dollar General’s 12th distribution center, a design/bid/build project on a 110-acre undeveloped site in San Antonio, Texas.
The center is a slightly smaller and modified replica of the prototype in Alabama also designed by LEO A DALY. The facility is comprised of a Climate Controlled Warehouse, Dispatch Office, Truck Maintenance Facility, Shipping guardhouse, Receiving Guardhouse and Pump-house.
The warehouse portion of the distribution center is complete with racked storage areas, shipping and receiving dock (161 dock positions), administrative offices, employee welfare areas, trucker’s lounge, battery charging, and shipping/ receiving offices.
Site design includes utility design, storm-water and sanitary design, concrete truck circulation and parking, concrete automobile paving and parking, truck scale, perimeter fencing, and detention ponds.
The central chilled water system is ammonia based and provides cooling for the large Climate Controlled Warehouse areas, significantly reducing energy use compared to commonly used package rooftop or other system types. The proposed system reduces annual energy consumption by 25% below ASHRAE 90.1 2007 baseline HVAC system types. SIZE: 9,500 SF SCOPE: Programming, Architecture, Interior Design, Engineering, Construction Administration
