Ini Ani Coffee Shop
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Building information
Designer: Lewis Tsurumaki Lewis
Program type: Restaurant/Coffee Shop
Project budget: $143/sq.ft.
Project Address:
105 Stanton Street
New York, NY
Building analysis
The Ini Ani Coffee Shop(now closed), located in New York’s Lower East Side is just 350 square feet. The owners wanted a subdued lounge area in addition to space for take out orders. They hired Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis (LTL)to design and build out their space. They needed their construction budget of $40,000.00 realized within a three month time frame (from the start of the design process to opening their doors) which made for a challenging job.
Detail analysis
Inspired by the everyday aspects of program, LTL was inventive with their design in the spatial layout and the materials they chose. The spatial layout consists of creating a box within a box, ironically by stacking two-inch-wide strips of corrugated cardboard within a steel frame. The Cor-Ten frame is designed in a geometric pattern and simply welded together and attached to the wall. The frame also incorporates custom wood banquette seating. The cardboard strips along the walls are held in place by gravity, but the ceiling cardboard strips are hot glued together. In addition to the cardboard strips they inserted two inch corrugated plastic strips in a seemingly random pattern. The cardboard “box” defines the seating area and creates a path to the service counter. Cardboard is not only an affordable material, but it also absorbs noise and allows light and music from the speakers above to trickle down through it. Also, the innovative way LTL exposed the cardboard’s edges creates a textured surface.
References
Notes
Student contributions
- Michelle Aberbach, Spring 2008
External links
Additional resources
