Rootstock Sydney is a not-for-profit sustainably focused food and wine festival that was founded in 2012. In recent years we have worked with Indigenous communities in New South Wales to explore their culinary and agricultural practices and to raise money for further research and development. We aim to build a truly sustainble kicthens to use at the festival and then donate the kitchens to three indigenous communities on Sydney's south coast, for ongoing use.

This year Rootstock will build a sustainable, closed-loop kitchen that will feed 2000 people at Rootstock Sydney 2017 in November, after which it will be taken apart and and donated to three Indigenous communities on the south coast of New South Wales. The intention of the project is to showcase innovative, sustainable design and ultimately help out local communites by providing kitchens that provide maximum output with a minimal environmental footprint. The Kitchens will be donated to  three Yuin communities on the south coast of New South Wales: Digging Stick foods, Yuin Women's Group and Wurdi Yuang.  We will deliver the sustainably built kitchens to the communities where they can be used with a minimum impact on the environment and low operating costs.

Fire has been used in cooking on the Australian continent as long as anywhere on the planet. We want to build a kitchen that utilises this power source but is also functional and can be used to feed large numbers at community gatherings. 

http://www.rootstocksydney.com

This colloborative festival aims to first use the kitchen at Rootstock Sydney November 25-26 where people can come and see the kitchen in opertion and understand its design first hand. Some of Australia's most celebrated and innovative chefs including Ben Shewry (of Attica, the Good Food Guide’s Australian Restaurant of the Year, Jock Zonfrillo (of Orana, Gourmet Traveller’s Restaurant of the Year), Kylie Kwong and Pasi Petänen will cook in kitchen during the event. By using innovative design we hope to showcase materials and cooking techniques in the kitchen that aren’t dependent on fossil fuels.

The project would not be possible without the generous support of Silvester Fuller and sculptor Dion Horstmans.

The design

Silvester Fuller 

https://silvesterfuller.com

Sydney architecture firm Silvester Fuller has designed the remarkable plans for the Rootstock Kitchen with a

genuine focus on environmental, economic and social sustainability for which their studio is known.

The build

Dion Horstmans

http://dionhorstmans.com

The kitchen will be fabricated by celebrated Australian sculptor Dion Horstmans  

$8000
Materials

$9000 

Labour and Fabrication costs

$5000

To transport and reassemble kitchens after the event.

We have trimmed the budget as much as possible to try and complete the build so we can ensure we can donate to them Yuin communities. All monies raised for this project are used directly to help the Indigenous communities we work with.

With the input of architects Silvester Fuller and sculptor Dion Horstmans we are confident in the design and functionality of the kitchens and the viability of transporting them to the communities where they will ultimately be put to long-term use after Rootstock 2017. The biggest hurdle we have identified is in raising the funds to complete the project. ForRootstock Sydney, a not-for-profit organisation run by volunteers, this is a substantial undertaking, but one we feel will both spark important conversations around questions of sustainability and environmentally progressive design, and benefit the communities involved.