The Workhouse

The Workhouse

The Workhouse is a coffee shop in the village of Brixworth serving pastries, cakes, savouries, juices and light snacks as either a sit in or takeaway.

a vibrant local coffee destination

The venue largely serves the local and surrounding village community and attracts everyone from groups of friends enjoying lunch to cyclists and dog walkers. As it’s located on the main route through to other villages it’s perfect for a quick stop-off.

collaborative design and inspired style

In the early stages of planning, discussions were held with the client including looking at current social media trends in London. Our client had strong ideas as to the look they wanted for the scheme, and we made suggestions of what we could do to achieve this style with their budget and timescale.

bringing terrazzo and texture to life

Terrazzo finishes were particularly identified as a material the client wanted to bring into the space. Our shopfitter formed beautiful bespoke oversized terrazzo into the counter and table finishes. The client also wanted to lighten the space and give a reclaimed look to the building which although it was old had no features to expose. A new brick effect wall full of artwork was formed in white to bring light and texture to the interior. Bold wallpaper across the site brings some colour and excitement to the space.

overcoming space and supply challenges

There were some challenges our team had to overcome. Additional space was not easily available, and we had to create a larger kitchen area and increase the seating. We managed to achieve this by removing a separate office storeroom and bringing an element of prep into the front of house. We also had a tight programme of works and were finding that there was still a long lead time for lots of products due to the supply issues the industry is currently facing. This was causing some challenges and alternatives needed to be sourced by our team to ensure we met the project deadlines.

positive client feedback and community impact

The feedback from our client has been really positive. They like the new modern and light feel to the space. We have seen a lot of people uploading pictures to their Instagram channels showing off the new local coffee shop which is one of the best forms of feedback we could receive as designers.