Michigan Central Station Gets A Sweet New Coffeehouse
2025 Best of Year Winner for Coffee/Tea
Motor City’s long-abandoned beaux arts train station, Michigan Central, has been given a new lease on life after a six-year renovation spearheaded by Ford Motor Company. Among the first public-facing interiors to be completed is Yellow Light, a pint-size, 700-square-foot coffeehouse by Merge Architects that dishes up plenty of sweetness beyond the cinnamon-sugar donuts on its menu. From the concourse, leaded windows frame views of dusty-mauve and lemon-yellow niches surrounded by hand-dyed, fluted concrete panels. Concrete flooring is animated with painted stripes, and marble columns salvaged from the 1913 terminal are integrated into the cash-wrap counter, acting as plinths for the work top and effortlessly establishing a tactile connection between old and new. In doing so, the café becomes more than a place for quick caffeination. It’s a small but meaningful example of the Detroit station’s renewal.
See Interior Design’s Best of Year Winners and Honorees
Explore must-see projects and innovative products that took home high honors.
PROJECT TEAM
PROJECT TEAM
ELIZABETH WHITTAKER; ROBIN BANKERT; CHRIS JOHNSON; ZEYNEP KUHEYLAN.
read more
Projects
7 Global Projects That Elevate Urban Life And Public Service
From a train station in Australia to an auto showroom in Spain, these seven international projects are exemplars of service to the city.
Projects
Studio Perspektiv Designs Sport-betting Company Fortuna’s Prague HQ
Studio Perspektiv designs the Prague headquarters of fixed-odds sports-betting operator Fortuna Entertainment Group.
Projects
How A Historic Bank Became Corinthia Rome
For Corinthia Rome, a new boutique hotel, GA cashes in on a forgotten Roman landmark—the former headquarters of the Banca d’Italia.