Design Crush: A Juice Bar That’s As Fresh As the Drinks It Serves

Gastown's Kevin and Kevin Juice and Coffee Lounge is one part coffee shop, one part cocktail bar, one part tapas lounge €” in short, one of a kind. Which is why It's perfectly appropriate it has a wild and whimsical look like nowhere else in town. 

The original vision was for an industrial space with hammocks that went from day to night (think coffee in the morning, tapas in the evening), inspired by a concept the two Kevins had experienced in Spain, but Courtney Cline, senior interior designer for Vancouver-firm MGBA, took the casual-cool dream one step further. 

Yes, there would be chill-out-and-stay-a-while seating€”like a quartet of hanging orbs and pod-like covered cushioned benches€”but there would also be spaces where people could have a more intimate meal, hunker down with their laptop or catch up with a pal over juice and espresso. €œIt was about marrying those fun, playful aspects with a more practical sense,€ says Cline. 

Terrazzo countertops and tables from Concrete Collaborative double down on that sense of play (as do the colourful abstract murals from Vancouver artist Scott Sueme). A curving banquette winds through the room and encloses a lush garden of fresh plants, and a cloud-like Bocci lighting feature hangs above it all. €œIt's a bit like a park,€ explains Cline. A park that's also a technicolour dream. €œAt first, when the clients saw all the colours they were like, €˜this is a little scary,€™ but then they wanted more and more,€ says Cline.

Muuto stools offer a more traditional seating option along the high-top tables, but Studio Stirling orb seats are a delightful swerve. (€œThis is not a serious space,€ laughs Cline.) Even the doorway to the washrooms skews left of ordinary, built as a curved opening. 

€œI don't think you can go in and not smile,€ says Cline. €œIt's meant to be a mood changer.€

Project Credits
Millwork: Peregrine
Construction: Pacific Solutions