recess cafe
Client: ConnCorp
Services: Architecture, Interior Design, Branding, Signage Design
The Lab at ConnCORP is an entrepreneurship hub focused on developing and growing minority-owned businesses in the New Haven area. Located between the Highwood and Newhallville neighborhoods in Hamden and New Haven, the Lab is located in a formerly abandoned school building. After a series of owners and renovations, the building was purchased by ConnCORP to establish The Lab—an immersive and transformative space for innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurial education.
ACT worked as a partner to ConnCORP to create branding and signage for The Lab as well as branding, architecture, and interior design for its central cafe space. After researching the history of this incredible building, the team selected the name Recess Cafe to allude to the history of the school.
Recess Cafe, formerly an underutilized break area, was transformed into a sophisticated communal dining and workspace. The new cafe includes a large cafe counter wrapped in soft vegan leather panels, exposed brick exterior walls with integrated lighting, dark polished concrete flooring, a custom aubergine sofa seating nook, and a variety of counters and tables for different workstyles. We constructed a new outdoor deck, now connected to the interior through large glass garage doors. The space also features a mural by local artist Kwadwo Adae honoring Black entrepreneurs throughout history.
The Lab’s vision is to be a world-class purveyor of entrepreneurial and financial literacy training to facilitate wealth creation and financial security within the urban community, forming the ecosystem for minority business growth and development. ACT was honored to collaborate with them to create a brand and a space to realize this vision.
Photography by Samara Vise.
