Project Overview

The Bluestone Lane Bowery café was uniquely designed by Australian designer Tali Roth of Tali Roth Designs, to blend the signature Melbourne & Sydney café layout with a New York design flare. Complementing Bluestone Lane's existing 43 coffee shop & cafe locations, the 19 Kenmare Street concept café is truly a destination. “To me, Bluestone Lane is special because it marries the things we love about Australian culture with the New York mentality. I wanted this space to be a true reflection of that relationship,” says Interior Designer, Tali Roth. The design intention was to focus on the familiar Bluestone Lane aesthetic which features greenery and light finishings, while keeping things minimal and contextually modern.

Project Commissioner

Bluestone Lane

Project Creator

Tali Roth Designs

Project Brief

Bluestone Lane’s largest New York café takes over 3,400 sq. ft. in the heart of NoLita. Featuring large bi-fold, steel framed windows that open to create an indoor-outdoor flow, the café can seat up to 80 people at a time. As café-goers enter the space, they’ll be introduced by the statement deep green marble that spans the bar top, complemented by warm beige tones seen in the brick and Venetian plaster. Design highlights include the showcase circular niche bar and hanging cane mobile.
"We consciously wanted to create a more elevated feel for our Bowery Café, considering the area's long association with the arts and fashion. We couldn't be more excited to bring this new café to New York locals,” says Bluestone Lane Founder & CEO, Nick Stone.

Project Innovation/Need

We feel we've uniquely blended the best of Australian and NYC cafe design in the Bowery Café. When you look at hospitality venues in Melbourne or Sydney, you'll see they're very forward thinking, very bright and often minimal. The New York way is warmer, more nostalgic, with a cosy, moody feel. We wanted to cut through the middle of that and give the market something bespoke while creating a space that was inviting.

The design is diverse; seamlessly combining outdoor bistro tables with interior bench and table seating, as well casual stools by the bar. The elevated feel is unique for a breakfast and lunch destination, but has also allowed for us to expand into an all-day restaurant, including happy hour and evening offerings.

Design Challenge

Like every project in New York City, this one had its challenges as well. Due to permitting issues we had to stall for a few weeks and we lost the marble we had on reserve. Fortunately for us it was a positive result as it lead us to the verde acceglio marble that we ended up using in the space and it took the design to another level. Another challenge was creating a space that felt unique and elevated but didn't feel like too much of a deviation from the other locations. I think we did a good job of that and by having consistent and strong branding, the loyal patrons are able to identify us.

Sustainability

The materials we sourced weren't likely local. However, where we could we kept the old and refreshed it. We kept the original wood floors and retained it. We restores the pressed metal ceiling and gave it a new coat of paint. We kept the Original columns and steel work and just painted them. Unfortunately when it comes to restaurants in the city, they get a real beating from customers and so we had to update most of the other materials throughout.