Building Buzz at Nantucket’s Shared-Use Kitchen
The Hive, an incubator kitchen in Nantucket, Mass., offers something for every culinary entrepreneur.

Usually when planning a kitchen, designers make equipment decisions based on the type of cuisine or its end user. But for the building at 5 Amelia Drive, Nantucket, Mass., later named The Hive, a shared-use commercial kitchen facility and food business incubator, none of the usual advance intel was available.
The structure, a former restaurant called The Keeper with a production kitchen on the main floor and a support kitchen in the basement, was acquired in 2022 by Nantucket-based Remain Ventures, led by philanthropist Wendy Schmidt. Remain’s vision centered on creating a shared-use food production facility that would support the area’s food system while incubating and growing new businesses. For example, a chef who was busy during the summer on the island could use the facility to produce and package their most popular sauce during the winter and sell it to local retailers.
“Since we didn’t know what ratio of meal preparation to product manufacturing The Hive would need, we aimed for maximum flexibility (in its design),” says Karen Macumber, founder of Nantucket Food Group, the company in charge of working with vendors and overseeing daily operations at The Hive. Macumber provided the kitchen design team details of potential uses, drawing from her years of experience working with area food entrepreneurs.
“Since we didn’t know what ratio of meal preparation to product manufacturing The Hive would need, we aimed for maximum flexibility (in its design).”
—Karen Macumber, Nantucket Food Group
Nearly two years of design and construction work ensued to bring The Hive to life. The construction and design team included Clarke Brothers Construction, Nantucket; architect Emeritus Ltd., Nantucket; and interior design firm Gary McBournie, Boston. Kitchen design and equipment were provided by Ricca Design Studios, Denver, and dealer Fountainhead Foodservice Group, Chelmsford, Mass., respectively. The Hive opened for business in November of 2024.
Already, The Hive’s buzz is rising. “We have five approved businesses currently using the facility, and four (vendor) applications currently pending with the local health department,” Macumber says. “The Nantucket community understands the impact The Hive will have on small culinary businesses, farmers and those seeking to purchase fresh food options year-round. We foresee (more than) 25 members will be using the building by summer of 2025.”

The Hive has six kitchens.
Building The Hive
Converting the original restaurant’s dining spaces into new kitchens and updating existing kitchens came with a few challenges. These included giving the electric service a major overhaul, improving accessibility to the lower level, adding ventilation and specifying equipment for unknown future users.
Remain’s goal of reducing emissions on Nantucket set the course for The Hive’s all-electric future. Engineers installed a custom-made electrical panel and worked with the town to upgrade the building’s power supply. Post-COVID supply chain issues caused many delays with this aspect.
And to be as cost-effective as possible, the team opted to retain some of the gas-powered equipment already in place. “When those pieces eventually fail, they will be replaced with electric units,” says Ricca’s Phillip Landgraf, lead planner for The Hive’s kitchen design. “The electric outlets and the infrastructure for additional electric use are all set for their future replacements.”
To improve accessibility beyond the existing stairs to the lower-level kitchen, planners added a compact limited use/limited application elevator to transport people and equipment between the main level and the basement. A cross between a commercial elevator and a wheelchair lift, the unit takes less space and investment than would a traditional elevator—and its presence adds flexibility to the lower-level equipment lineup, Landgraf notes, by allowing future vendors to be able to bring in specialized equipment if need be.
As for exhaust hoods, “in an existing building with low ceilings and apartments on the second floor, we could add only one new hood, in the Clover kitchen,” Landgraf recalls. “All the other kitchens operate with ventless equipment because the cooking that takes place will not be producing heavy grease.”
Finally, the question of how to provide maximum flexibility for unknown future users can be answered with one word: “combis,” Landgraf says. “A combi oven can steam, bake, roast, and when you add in a grill pan, they can sear meats too.” Ventless combis anchor three of The Hive’s six kitchens.

The Hive’s community area, with a view into the Bumble kitchen, includes seating for meetings or relaxing.
Touring The Hive
The Hive’s main level houses five kitchens (one for production and four for innovation). The basement holds the second production kitchen plus storage, lockers, laundry and an ice machine.
Food production takes place in Buttercup (563 square feet), which occupies the footprint of the original restaurant kitchen and features a full hood and hot line. In the basement, Buzz (358 square feet), the second largest workspace, offers versatility and volume with its combi oven, fryer, griddle, oven/range and more. Innovation kitchens include Nectar (235 square feet) with its electric ventless griddle; Honeycomb (250 square feet), anchored by a combi oven to handle pastry making, pastas and more; Clover (173 square feet) with equipment ideal for meal prep or product development; and Bumble (220 square feet), featuring ample countertop space and a glass front overlooking the common area.
Flexibility defines The Hive kitchens. “Most kitchens can work for (either) production or innovation. For example, a caterer may use one of the smaller kitchens for prep one day, and then move to one of the larger kitchens to cook,” Macumber says. “The kitchen in the basement is specifically set up for larger scale production of products, given the steam-jacketed kettle and (food processor) are there. Or we can roll in the filling machine or dehydrator, and there is easy access to the walk-ins.”

The Hive provides a meal option for Nantucket residents and visitors when local restaurants book up or close for the winter.
The community area, painted in seaside blues, soft yellows and natural-looking wood accented with honeycomb-shaped elements, includes meeting space fitted with tables, and an espresso machine. A food pickup area with temperature-controlled lockers will be coming online in the months ahead. A wide, three-season porch offers additional seating for community engagement.
Per The Hive’s application form, kitchens get assigned each month to match the culinary needs of the user. Dry, cold and frozen storage are shared by all members, who are assigned dedicated space when they join. Smallwares provided by The Hive include hotel pans, fry pans, stockpots, mixing bowls, colanders, cutting boards and cooking racks. Since The Hive expects members to leave the kitchens as clean as when they arrive, each space except Bumble includes a warewasher (Bumble has a three-compartment sink).
Macumber envisions a golden future for The Hive. “We see the facility as the hub of food innovation and production on the island in the next year,” Macumber says. “We are already working on products for local farmers to utilize excess produce, and will have 10 businesses operating by January 2025. We also see The Hive as a much-needed option for residents and visitors seeking to order meals to enjoy in their own homes, as restaurants continue to book up and/or close for the winter. Our goal long term is to break the seasonality cycle that so many of our food entrepreneurs get trapped into, such that they can run multiple types of businesses year-round (catering in summer, product manufacturing in the winter, for example).”

A food pickup area with temperature-controlled lockers will be coming online in the months ahead.
FACTS
The Hive
Nantucket, Mass.
OPENED: November 2024
TOTAL FACILITY SIZE: 11,000 square feet
NO. OF KITCHENS: 6
OWNER & OPERATOR: Remain Nantucket, Nantucket; Nantucket Food Group, Nantucket
KITCHEN DESIGN: Phillip Landgraf, executive principal; Garret Sletten, project director, Ricca Design Studios, Denver
ARCHITECT: Emeritus Ltd., Nantucket
INTERIOR DESIGN: Gary McBournie, Boston
DEALER: Fountainhead Foodservice Group, Chelmsford, Mass.
CONSTRUCTION: Clarke Brothers Construction, Nantucket
WEBSITE: hivenantucket.com
Key Equipment
BUTTERCUP
Blodgett double convection gas oven
Vulcan gas fryer, griddle, charbroiler, refrigerated base, 6-burner range/oven
True reach-in freezer, refrigerator
Hobart dishwasher
Manitowoc ice machine, bin
AccuTemp electric griddle (future)
Blodgett electric double convection oven (future)
Wells electric charbroiler (future)
Lang 6-burner range/oven (future)
Vulcan electric fryer (future)
NECTAR
Evo ventless griddle
Moffat convection countertop oven
True undercounter freezer, undercounter refrigerator
Globe 5-qt. mixer
Carter-Hoffmann hot holding cabinet
T&S Brass pre-rinse faucet
Hobart undercounter dishwasher
HONEYCOMB
RATIONAL ventless combi oven
Everpure water filtration system
True reach-in refrigerator, undercounter refrigerator, cold prep table
Somerset dough roller
T&S Brass pre-rinse faucet, pot-fill faucet
Hobart undercounter dishwasher
CLOVER
True reach-in refrigerator, undercounter freezer, cold prep table
Lang electric countertop griddle, 4-burner induction range with convection oven
Accurex hood with makeup air unit
Hobart undercounter dishwasher
BUMBLE
RATIONAL ventless combi oven
Everpure water filtration system
True reach-in refrigerator, undercounter freezer
Custom three-comp. sink
COMMUNITY AREA
Ondo food lockers
Franke espresso machine
Everpure water filtration system
True undercounter refrigerator
Lula elevator
BUZZ
RATIONAL ventless combi oven
Everpure water filtration system
Vulcan fryer
AccuTemp griddle
Lang 6-burner range/oven
Robot Coupe food processor
Crown tilting kettle
Excalibur dehydrator
CDA filling machine
Amerikooler walk-in cooler
Manitowoc ice machine, bin
Hobart undercounter dishwasher
T&S Brass pre-rinse faucet
Editor’s note: The floor plan doesn’t show Buzz.
T&S Brass is pleased to sponsor FER’s Kitchen Design feature. To learn more, visit tsbrass.com.
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