A former vocational school housed for nearly a century in an Art Deco building in South Philadelphia is now a thriving hub for the city’s vibrant community of makers with its own independent cafe, Two Persons Coffee, writes Jesse Dorris for Interior Design.

The Public Works Administration completed the building in 1936.

It was then transformed after being shut down in 2013 by developer Scout LTD, who hired architecture and design firm Kaminski + Pew to find the best spot for the cafe.

“Our goal was to create a space that intentionally blurs the narrative of place and time,” said firm cofounders Kevin Kaminski and Alexis Pew. “We wanted to invite a sense of wonder. What is existing? What is new?”

The team decided to reformat around 300 square feet of a former auto body tool room into the coffee shop. To achieve that, they relocated and painted the school’s existing fencing and used granite panels removed from walls as the top of the cafe’s monumental counter. Meanwhile, classroom furniture was given a new life as cafe seating.

The small coffee shop quickly turned into a destination, not just for the tenants of the building but also for locals in the area.

The success shows the value of adaptive reuse.

Read more about Two Persons Coffee in Interior Design.

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