The Cupcake Stop

The end of the spring semester is upon us!! What a semester it has been!!  One of our last projects included a design for a cupcake shop.  Our client was a business man from Charlotte, NC  that wanted a design for a shop that was gender neutral.  He wanted it to appeal to both men and women.  He was wanting a design that would be appealing for 10 - 15 years.

The design process started with an adjacency matrix:


This showed the areas that were important to be close in proximity, like the cash counter and the guest seating.







Next I created a bubble diagram to help with placement of each area that the customer requested.

Also at the beginning stages I did a little research on the Charlotte area and found out that even though Charlotte was 200 miles from the ocean, it is still considered a port city of sorts.  The reason for this is because 300 trains go through Charlotte on a daily basis. This information gave me the inspiration for my design and The Cupcake Shop was put into the design process.

 

The floor plan includes a custom built train car located in the middle of the shop.  This area is created as a lounge area where around 6-8 people can gather and enjoy the delicious cupcakes that are prepared daily.
There is a tasting area at the back of the shop and a large window for viewing cupcake decorating.

 

The feel of the shop is as if you stepped back in time.  The floors are repurposed hardwoods from old train depots and the walls have been surfaced with repurposed bricks. The furniture is modern with a nod back to the old train cars.  Leather was used for the booth seats as this is very comfortable and durable as well.


This turned out to be a fun project!! It was exciting to see how everyone had such great ideas for this space!!
Cant wait to see what is in store for the summer project!!