Verve | Seabright Roastery

twothousand11

santa cruz, california + 7,000 square feet
architect / contractor | fuse architects inc.
record | The Envirotects
details | exposed concrete, corten, bonderized metal, exposed timber
photography | ted holladay

Verve Coffee Roasters (VCR), a local coffee startup that has made a name for themselves on an international scale, commissioned us to help them create a new headquarters and expand their roasting facility. The challenge was to take an existing structure that served as the old Seabright Cannery from 1914 To 1989 and transform it into a distinctive identity for VCR. This building was used for the packaging of pears, cherries, artichokes, olives, beans and spinach and has more recently been a storage warehouse for the O‘Neill Surf company. Located within the same building as other successful local companies such as Santa Cruz Bicycles, NHS, Beckmann’s and Pacific Edge Climbing Gym, VCR wanted to create a presence that would encourage the local community to come see what they are all about.

We left the shell structure intact and removed some of the old upper floor packing area to create an office overlook into the new roasting area. We added windows, which created a new light filled space. We reused all of the old floor joists and flooring to create window mullions and also repurposed what was left in the design of the new Pacific Avenue store. We added our signature touches, which usually involve metal, glass and big barn sliders to give the new Roastery a vintage/modern look. vervecoffeeroasters.com