We revisited the scene of our first major commercial installation at Works Bakery Cafe  in Manchester, Vermont (this past summer) for a site review and to discuss an upcoming project with Richard French, the owner. Richard (“Frenchie”) is full of energy, optimism, ideas, and is just – well – contagiously alive. A great kick in the pants – and I mean that in all the best ways! I shot some of the interior while there, as we only had installation night pictures previously, and the joie d’vivre expressed in the design scheme (the work of Richard’s lovely and talented wife Christy Bonneau ) shows through in these images. And the food is great!

We installed the complete new set of concrete countertops, replete with a concrete sink for an iced product display, last night. Flipping the restaurant overnight made for an interesting but rewarding experience for Concrete Detail. The rest of the crew on hand were extremely competent and friendly, so the evening proceeded apace. Fixtures were fabricated and installed by Vermont Store Fixtures of Danby, VT of cherry veneered ply to fit the space and the store’s requirements. Owner Richard French was on hand, supervising and jumping in with cordless screwgun in hand as needed, and helping the turnover to stay on track. It is Richard’s commitment to local community and sustainability that brought us into this project in the first place, and we thank him for adding us to the team and look forward to many more fruitful and creative opportunities to partner with him and Works Bakery Cafe!

Concrete Sink Demolded

We just demolded the latest concrete countertop creation – a large shallow sink  to be used as an iced beverage display in a full remodel at a well-known eatery in Manchester, Vermont: Works Bakery Cafe. We are creating all the worktops and service counters, as well as the cafe tables and the aforementioned ice bin display. Half of the new tops are wetcast and the other half are hand-pressed for a tone-on-tone effect (a la my good friend Buddy Rhodes. There is a total of about 20 pieces in the whole project, a big job for us, but worthwhile.

Works Bakery Cafe has a strong affirmation to utilize sustainable building practices and materials in all of its retail outlets, as part of its corporate commitment to environmental and social responsibility. Cast elements created by Concrete Detail and used in the Manchester store are a part of that philosophy; they are locally hand-crafted using regionally obtained raw materials, they are naturally inert surfaces which incorporate recycled content in their makeup, they are formed and cast specifically for the restaurant’s applications with no wasted material in fabrication, and they are custom designed especially for the task, so they are an environmentally sound, appropriate solution for the project.

More to come!