Formerly an ice cream shop, the program brief sought a refreshed urban destination that could transform from an espresso bar/pastry shop by day into a coffee & chocolatier’s lounge by night. In addition to its signature bar element, this irregularly shaped 800 s.f. floorplate also incorporates small retail display units and a full prep room in the rear.rnThe building’s owner limited our client’s tenant improvement solely to the interior with its irregular footprint. Moreover, the exterior storefront system, concrete wall, and bathroom space were to be left untouched.rnThe design solution imagined a centralized beacon that not only signaled passers by on foot or by car but also became the spatial and social hub from which the baristas could discuss latest coffee brewing theory. The espresso bar showcases the coffee-making process and includes an aroma bar that invites an olfactoral experience with custom blends of tea.rnBacklit and illuminated, the bar element embeds local culture with japanese paper laminated between glass panels. Overhead, custom composite wood panels pattern the ceiling surface as a playful reference to the pachinko palaces familiar to Tokyo nightlife.rnEven in its modest aspirations, the project welcomes both day and night activities through an interplay of material, surface patterning, and light.
Little Tokyo, Los Angeles
Year: 2012
Formerly an ice cream shop, the program brief sought a refreshed urban destination that could transform from an espresso bar/pastry shop by day into a coffee & chocolatier’s lounge by night. In addition to its signature bar element, this irregularly shaped 800 s.f. floorplate also incorporates small retail display units and a full prep room in the rear.rnThe building’s owner limited our client’s tenant improvement solely to the interior with its irregular footprint. Moreover, the exterior storefront system, concrete wall, and bathroom space were to be left untouched.rnThe design solution imagined a centralized beacon that not only signaled passers by on foot or by car but also became the spatial and social hub from which the baristas could discuss latest coffee brewing theory. The espresso bar showcases the coffee-making process and includes an aroma bar that invites an olfactoral experience with custom blends of tea.rnBacklit and illuminated, the bar element embeds local culture with japanese paper laminated between glass panels. Overhead, custom composite wood panels pattern the ceiling surface as a playful reference to the pachinko palaces familiar to Tokyo nightlife.rnEven in its modest aspirations, the project welcomes both day and night activities through an interplay of material, surface patterning, and light.
Little Tokyo, Los Angeles
Year: 2012