When The Clarice was first built, food service was considered a mere support function. With the renovation of Applause Café, the client re-imagined food and drink as performance, their project brief calling for transformation of the lackluster lunch spot into a star performer at The Clarice.
Located at the top of a grand stair, the existing café consisted of separate serving and seating areas, separated by another stairway. The program called for a food service area where customers would interact with servers as they selected freshly made soups and salads and a seating area at the hub of the performing arts center where the various users would meet for meals, work sessions, or chance encounters. A key challenge was to unify the two spaces into one imageable place.
The design team envisioned a curvilinear element, wrapping the entire café, continuously transforming between counter and bench along its route. The team designed the built-in elements plus tables and chairs through a prototyping process that took advantage of the performing arts center’s scenery/prop fabrication facilities, resulting in a sustainable solution constructed from the renewable resource Plyboo.
The new Applause Café draws theatre-goers up the grand staircase, activates the upper lobby, and provides an attractive meeting place where dancers, musicians, actors, and technical personnel come together with audiences at the heart of The Clarice.
