Colectivo Coffee Roasters

Wauwatosa, WI

Project Overview

Colectivo Coffee Roasters wanted to create a great coffee experience in Wauwatosa that included indoor and outdoor gathering spaces for coffee lovers. The Kubala Washatko Architects (TKWA) reached out to raSmith to collaborate on a creative design for the urban site. Outdoor spaces were designed to provide seating, bike parking and places for visitors to hang out while enjoying their coffee and bakery.

The site was previously contaminated so no stormwater could be infiltrated on the property. Instead, the designers used the roof water to create a water feature, a cistern for irrigation and a dry stream bed, all to slow down the release of rainwater into the combined storm sewer system.

Bayview Location

raSmith also provided site and landscape architectural design services for a new 27,600-square-foot cafe and wholesale bakery on a one-acre urban redevelopment site in Bayview.

raSmith integrated innovative, sustainable design elements into the site design, including a dry stream bed, rainwater harvesting and green roof plantings. Additional site improvements included a new parking lot, loading dock, building utility services, public transit shelter, outdoor plazas and seating areas, and raised planters.

Opportunities were seized to reframe common perceptions of stormwater runoff as a waste product, and instead showcase runoff as a natural resource through a series of living displays integrated throughout the site.

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