Blog task 6: Working space - primary research Linked to Studio Project 4

Cartwheel Café and Roastery – Nottingham

Saturday the 11th of March at 13:30

The café was fairly busy at this time with only a few empty seats throughout the venue. I imagine this time (13:30) on a Saturday to be the busiest of the week with customer numbers dropping considerably during weekdays outside of lunch hours.

I have sketched a quick floorplan and added some information to show the two main paths of footfall within the small space to show how a well-designed café may work with clear areas for seating and purchasing and managing to still provide a decent sized collection area and work area. However from my observations the majority of people stayed to sit to either chat, work on laptops or read books, this caused an issue of customers leaving shortly after entering due to a lack of seating. One other issue with this particular floorplan is the queue passing through the main seating areas, making a quick and fuss free exit from the venue near impossible at peak times.

I will add this to my research for my current project and will continue to visit various coffee shops and take sketches to record both good and bad design features.

(Williams, 2017)

Bibliography:

Williams, B. (2017). Cartwheel Cafe & Roastery. [online] Brian's Coffee Spot. Available at: http://www.brian-coffee-spot.com/2016/12/22/cartwheel-cafe-roastery/ [Accessed 7 May 2017].