Location: Arts District, Los Angeles, CA
Size: 6,871 sf

Verve Coffee Roasters Arts District is the embodiment of a shared vision and collaboration between client & architect who collectively believe in the power of creating engaging places which socially connect people over everyday activities like grabbing a cup of coffee. The transparency of the space links directly to Verve’s FarmLevel initiative and the transparency with which they run their business. It is not simply a cafe or a coffee roasting facility, a restaurant or a creative office- it combines all of the above into the central hub of Verve LA while being completely open to the public.

We embraced maximal visual transparency with a space that reveals the coffee making wizard behind the curtain- from roasting to training to crafting that perfect cup. Our studio philosophy is that the life of a place is an equally important design element so we create architectural spaces that embrace and encourage life to happen within them. By carving up the height and breadth of the space we created unusual points of perspective and details.

The space takes its design inspiration and roots in the strength of West Coast Modernism and provides an eclectic mash-up of that rich & experimental past with the needs of contemporary life. The adaptive re-use of an iconic corner building looking out upon the 4th street bridge creates a much needed place to pause amidst the chaos & shipping trajectories that still slice through the Arts District.

AIA-LA Restaurant Design Merit Award Winner, 2021

Architect’s Newspaper: 2020 AN Best of Design Awards: Commercial Hospitality Editor’s Picks

Architecture + Interior Design, Branding Integration: Design, Bitches

Landscape Design: Terremoto

Environmental Graphics: The Young Jerks

Custom Light Fixtures: Siemon + Salazar, Brendan Ravenhill

Macrame Art: Windy Chien

Photography: Bruce Damonte (Arts District), Parker Batterson (SF)

D,B Team: Catherine Johnson, Rebecca Rudolph, ChiaChing Yang, Kealani Jensen.