LTL’s design for this 800-square-foot bakery and coffee shop fuses a highly efficient plan with an expressive surface that cloaks the walls and the ceiling in a layered assembly of common materials. Almost 18,500 feet (more than three miles) of 3/4- by 3/4-inch strips of industrial felt and stained plywood were individually positioned and anchored into place to form an inner liner that defines the cafe's main seating area. The surface performs in multiple ways: as banquette back, as acoustic damper, and as visual seduction. The striking linear pattern of the strips induces a horizontal vertigo that serves as an attractor to pedestrians on the street, drawing the eye of the passer-by through the frameless glass storefront. The vitality of this architectural surface becomes the shop’s identity and advertisement. As a counterpoint to the excessive linearity of the strips, a custom stainless-steel chandelier, terminating in forty-two dimmable linear incandescent lights, branches across the ceiling.......more
