December 20, 2019

Text: Elissaveta M. Brandon

Bolt Design Group Serves Up a Tiny Jolt of Warmth in NYC’s Dan Jones Coffee Bar

Custom cushions and a tubular backrest by Stitchroom provide comfortable seating and a sleek touch of modern design. Photography courtesy of Bolt Design Group.

In a place as dense as the Manhattan grid, every nook and cranny counts. This couldn’t be truer of Dan Jones, a new coffee bar in Midtown East that is tucked in a 400-square-foot space the size of a two-car garage. Designed by Brooklyn-based firm Bolt Design Group, the café features a swooping milled plywood slat-wall that curves upwards to meet a rippled, reflective ceiling.

To visually enlarge the space, Bolt Design Group designed a partially reflective ceiling that features a ripple-effect texture. Photography courtesy of Bolt Design Group.

“The neighborhood, flooded with furniture and interior design showrooms, encouraged the use of flowing design elements that would acquire the attention of window-shoppers and passing pedestrians,” says the firm’s founder Matthew Dennis. Throughout the space, design touches abound. A poured concrete drink rail runs the length of the wall and folds down to form the front counter. Funhouse elements invite second glances and banquette seating comes with custom, tubular-back cushions. The micro trend has taken living and retail environments by storm—and Dan Jones subscribes to it perfectly.

Bolt Design Group treated the wall behind the wood slats with a terracotta paint that infuses the space with a warm glow. Photography courtesy of Bolt Design Group.
A tiled wall is punctuated by funhouse elements that bring skewed alignments, reflections, and rippled projections into the space. Photography courtesy of Bolt Design Group.
To establish a clean and simple curved-wood slat system, a custom joint was developed and prototyped in collaboration with Red Hook Millworks of Red Hook, Brooklyn. Photography courtesy of Bolt Design Group.
Custom painted Normann Copenhagen Bell Lamps hang through the plywood slats and over bistro-style marble tables. Photography courtesy of Bolt Design Group.

Read more: Fleetwood Fernandez Architects Shows Its Sweet Side With Del Mar’s Sidecar Doughnuts & Coffee

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