Only in LA: A Pedal-Powered Ice Cream Parlor
Author:Abigail StoneOriginally published on Remodelista
At Peddler’s Creamery in downtown LA, the employees ride a stationary bicycle as part of their job description. Why? Because the bike is connected to the ice cream churner, and if the employees don’t pedal, the ice cream doesn’t get made.
Founded by Edward Belden, an eco-conscious bike enthusiast with a passion for small-batch organic ice cream, Peddler’s Creamery started as a one-man, five-gallons-at-a-time operation. When business picked up, Belden was ready for his own ice cream parlor. Enter LA architect Oonagh Ryan (a member of the Remodelista Architect/Designer Directory), who immediately understood the most compelling aspect of the business: “By placing a stationary bike that’s connected to the ice cream churner in the public portion of the shop, employees and customers produce ice cream by pedaling—reducing the shop’s carbon footprint, getting some exercise, and understanding the process all at the same time.”
“Set front and center in the dairy is a little shadow-box window that enables customers to see the ice cream churn in action,” Ryan says. The dairy is clad in brightly painted shingles made from deconstructed wood pallets.
Above: An axonometric diagram details the relationship of the bicycle, sculpture, and dairy. Drawing by Oonagh Ryan Architects.
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