SMFA Cafe
Student centric marketplace cafe
When Tufts University took over the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, they recognized that the existing cafe would limit their goals to celebrate its culture, improve student life and increase enrollment. Analogue Studio was brought on board to design a renovation that would maximize square footage and increase functionality, as well as elevate the cafe to the level of service and offerings that had come to be expected of other facilities on the main campus.
Previously tucked behind a concrete wall, Analogue Studio reoriented the Cafe to open up to the main atrium to increase its presence in the center of student life and maximize throughput through three new large openings.
Prior to starting design, Analogue Studio worked with stakeholders to develop an equipment list, evaluate labor capacity and existing infrastructure and propose several renovation strategies. This thorough feasibility study allowed Analogue Studio to quickly and seamlessly incorporate additional scope when the university needed to accommodate a projected enrollment increase of 700 students.
Boston MA
photography: Samara Vise