Welcome to Flour Bakery in Cambridge, MA. When you walk through the door your senses are pleasantly lulled into submission by the smell of fresh cinnamon rolls, the sight of reclaimed wood, and the warmth rolling off a 4-sided modern fireplace right in the center of it all. This space was designed by David Hacin and his team at Hacin + Associates. In this short interview, David and Holly Markham talk Scandinavian design, Joanne Chang, and modern fireplaces.
Who are the key players?
Holly Markham: Founder of European Home — a design-forward manufacturer and distributor of modern, luxury fireplaces. European Home has been a thought-leader and taste-maker in the hearth industry since 1999.
David Hacin, FAIA: Founder of Hacin + Associates — an architecture and design studio located in Boston’s South End. H+A’s dedicated team of design professionals has built a broad portfolio of projects that have received regional, national and international recognition.
Joanne Chang: Chef and restaurant owner of Flour Bakery. In 2016 Joanne was awarded the James Beard Foundation Award for Most Outstanding Baker.
Holly: We heard about this project about a year ago, and I said Flour, as in Joanne Chang? And without hesitation, we were all on board. Can you tell us a little about the project?
David: The project is a new location for Flour, in Cambridgeport. It is in more of a tech-community part of Cambridge, which was lacking in places to go and hangout. BioMed Realty contacted Joanne Chang of Flour, and us, about creating a new cafe area to serve the community. They had a fantastic space available and we were all really excited about this opportunity. We got to work with Joanne and her partner Christopher Myers to develop a concept of how this space could feel.
H: What were the iterations along the way for the concept?
D: From the very beginning BioMed Realty was really interested in creating a warm cozy place, in what was generally more of a corporate environment. He was excited about putting a fireplace in to make it almost as if it were a living room for the community, not just a Cafe. We wanted it to be a casual place you could just hang out, spend some time reading a book or on your laptop. Our goal was to make it as much of a community center as it is a Cafe. As I speak, you can hear voices of kids and coffee all around me. We were very interested in creating a focal point for the space. We worked with not only art consultant groups finding artwork for walls, but finding a fireplace became essential to the idea of making a living room in this area.
H: I love all of the accessories. The furniture, neutral colors, how did that all come together?
D: It was all part of our design aesthetic. Flour has a particular palette, that I would describe as a little bit Scandinavian. The woods, pale blue, whites — we worked off that to select floor colors, stone colors, the wood wall that surrounds the pastry cabinet and black accents throughout.
Click Here to see a video of the conversation.
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