April 19, 2013

Renovation/Restoration (British Columbia) -- JJ Bean

Photo by David Long [enlarge]

JJ Bean’s renovation was designed in an art deco style to match the 1929 building that contains the cafe.

Renovation/Restoration (British Columbia)

Location: Marine Building, Vancouver

Contractor: Raicor Contracting

Architect: Dialog

Team: BC Ceiling Systems, Pacific West Systems Supply, Bailey West, CertainTeed, CGC, Steeler

The Marine Building on Burrard Street is often the building most identified with downtown Vancouver. Its unique “wedding cake” design, topped by a vaguely Mayan tower, makes a dramatic backdrop looking west toward the water. It was built in 1929 in the art deco style.

Architect Dialog and JJ Bean wanted to install a modern cafe in the building while still maintaining the art deco aesthetic. This was no easy task because a newly re-engineered mezzanine had to be installed through the ceiling and seismically attached to the existing columns. All plaster column capitals and “shoulders” were removed and reinstalled once the finishing phase began. All moldings and trims were either reinstalled or new ones made to match the art deco interior design.

Judge’s comment: “The clean, crisp lines of JJ Bean combine to convey the feeling to the customer of not just another coffee shop but rather that of a chic establishment where one would like to be seen. All of the architectural features, from the suspended balcony seating to the multifaceted acoustical cloud treatment above the main floor bar-like seating, serve to create an atmosphere of entertainment where the customer would like to ‘hang out’ over a cup of coffee rather than the common coffee establishment where you are encouraged to rush in and rush out with your purchase.”

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