Lackawanna Coffee

Naho Kubota

• Architects

Located in the lively Powerhouse Arts District of Jersey City, the café features interior architecture by Inaba Williams and custom fabrication by Kyle May, Architect. Opened in 2022, Lackawanna Coffee is an inviting refuge of original design and stand-out customizations. From majestic, playful columns to colorful resin furnishings, the café welcomes guests with carefully curated features of all scales.

Monumental forms, blocks of color, bold shapes, and touches of warmth fill the daylit interior. The largest features are the four 22-foot columns that frame the double-height space. Their undulating profiles accentuate the café’s tall, lofty proportions. Other large custom pieces include an 11-foot-diameter, peach-colored table sitting at the center of the space, while a continuous 18-foot-long sky blue counter lies behind it. Beyond the counter are the kitchen’s deep red millwork, stainless-steel worktops, and wood display shelves.

Visitors experience more one-of-a-kind elements up close. As they walk around they can see varying light qualities, textures, and saturations of color. Massive blue display shelves appear weightless. Their translucent finish and prismatic undersides reveal the glowy silhouettes of objects displayed above. Next to them is the ‘Cold Niche’ – a bent wood, 9-foot tall curved panel that showcases refrigerated drinks. Its curved surface reflects daylight from the 23-foot tall, floor-to-ceiling windows, while its opening frames the bright artificial light behind. Resting on the counter is the gem of the project: a luminous red pastry case. Made of thick walls, its deep translucent appearance gives it, too, a weightless quality. Elevated glass shelves look as if they float above supports.

These architectural elements set the stage for the community-focused café. Their arrangement, size, color, and finish aim to welcome neighbors from the arts district and across the city. The café serves as a place to engage, work, people watch, and more. Designed in line with the owner’s vision for inclusive sociality, the space is complete with a gallery on the mezzanine level, which hosts art and print exhibitions above while, just below, dinners and celebrations are hosted around the centerpiece circular table.This third outpost of Lackawanna Coffee on 325 Warren St joins the café’s two existing locations at 295 Grove St. and 140 Bay St in New Jersey.