Designed to emphasize the unpretentious service and handcrafted coffee for which Elm is known, the warm and bright café on the ground floor of the new 9th & Thomas mixed-use building—also by Olson Kundig—is an inviting extension of Elm’s original café in Seattle’s Pioneer Square neighborhood.

This café and coffee retail space, located in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood, spills out into the building’s main lobby and offers a high degree of transparency to the street, inviting passersby to enter and helping establish the lobby as a central community hub. Handmade green tiles from Cerámica Suro in Mexico run along the back wall of the café and are framed by a white marble counter, creating a bright backdrop for Elm’s high-quality coffee and welcoming ambiance.

“For Elm Coffee Roasters, we wanted to create a bright, optimistic backdrop for the coffee experience Elm has so beautifully crafted – one characterized by simple elegance and sincere hospitality.” –Kirsten R. Murray, FAIA, Design Principal