Fressen Artisan Bakery

Fressen Artisan Bakery began selling their wares in a Portland Farmer’s Market stall while baking in a leased production space with the goal of one day establishing a long-term home base in their own building. Luckily, the opportunity arose to purchase and adapt a 3,000 SF former auto shop into their new wholesale bakery and a Viennese Kaffeehaus-inspired café and retail shop.

The café and retail functions are on busy Glisan Street and use the building’s double height volume to create an open, airy public zone. The design preserves the building’s existing openings, allowing daylight to pour into the space. A partial-height partition wall separates the café and production bakery, creating a private work area for the bakers and cooks while allowing the free exchange of light from the café and the sounds and smells of baking from the production area. New glazed operable doors provide indoor-outdoor flexibility.

Kina guided the client from the earliest steps in their building acquisition through the design and feasibility process to the very end of construction. As the client grows their business, their ongoing relationship includes future planning for an outdoor seating area and additional storefront improvements.