The Nantucket Culinary Center, the island’s newest jewel on Federal Street, may have a familiar feel to those in tune with the Nantucket Looms’ aesthetic – and with good reason: it is one of our first major commercial design projects.

Located in the heart of the historic district, the circa 1850s building was acquired by Remain Nantucket and leased to Joy and Greg Margolis with the idea that it was to become a place to celebrate the culinary arts: learning, cooking and, yes of course, eating.

The building was in poor condition and required a complete overhaul, as well as a new addition to house the commercial kitchen and dining room. The Looms’ design team of Liz Winship and Mary Beth Ferro were brought in early on in the process to work closely with the architects and contractors to collaborate in designing a space that would blend the historic integrity of the period building and the neighborhood with the practical, code-driven requirements of a multi-functional commercial space.

Guided by the classic Looms’ design principals that define our trademark “cottage style,” Winship and Ferro set out to infuse the three floors of the Culinary Center – which consists of a ground floor café, first floor demonstration kitchen/event space and second floor culinary school and dining room - with the same subdued combination of organic elements that makes our residential interiors so inviting and so timeless.

To translate that style effectively into one that would work for a commercial building, Winship and Ferro suggested colors, textures and lighting that would complement the varying functions identified by the three floors. The “look” was to be inspired by Nantucket’s unique land and seascape, while also feeling a little “on trend” and contemporary.