1. 624 – Melrose
café reno – h i g h p r o f i l e
#
Los Angeles, California
project information location plans
How does your design incorporate the existing site? (exterior to interior connection, relevance to
existing site and surrounding architecture): Stripping back the layers of gyp reviewed a very large steel
moment frame that became the design inspiration for the steel trellis in the patio connecting the exterior to
the interior.
How does your design cater to it’s audience? (meets customer and market needs)
The building is setback 20 feet from the sidewalk so in placing a false store front and patio structure this
design gives this store more of a sidewalk presence important to any retail entity on Melrose Avenue. The
patio has built-in counter seating, overhead heaters and exterior LED patio lights for guest to enjoy the patio
year round. Enhancing the patio was one of the main priority since it a “seen and be seen” space.
How you were innovative in your design? (creative use of space planning, materials, and design elements):
The patio is a key feature to this store so by enhancing and guarding the patio we were able to pull our
signage and brand to the very corner of the site thereby solving one of the chief compliance about this
location which is the lack of visibility to the signage and our brand. The many signs we have on the building
were obscured nine months out of the year by the 4 large trees.
What was your inspiration and how did you incorporate that into your design?
The large steel moment frame that was discovered during our site survey buried behind gyp. This became the
design inspiration for Melrose and steered the design towards incorporating many raw and exposed steel
elements.
Tell about any green solutions and environmental responsibility. We used many reclaimed wood
throughout the project from bar cladding to wainscot and ceiling cladding. The large live-edge table and bar
top-caps are cypress trees pulled from swamps in Florida and Louisiana.
What kind of messaging do you have in the store (coffee story/Shared Planet)? Large Shared Planet
coffee farm images were used inside and outside as well as the use of a large framed coffee bag collage to
message our coffee story.
before photo
exterior photos

2. 624 – Melrose
café reno – h i g h p r o f i l e
#
Los Angeles, California
interior photos