Designing Frothy Monkey as a Table for All Through Adaptive Reuse
Creating Uniquely Local Spaces with a Cohesive Brand Identity
A CASE STUDY
After opening its first coffeehouse in a 1200 SF bungalow, Frothy Monkey was ready to grow. But grow in a way that remained true to the brand’s roots. Committed to being a contributing neighbor, Frothy Monkey worked with GHP to thoughtfully source buildings that were part of each target community’s historic fabric. Buildings that could be adapted and revitalized to serve each neighborhood in a new, valued way. Over the course of four years, Frothy Monkey and GHP re-envisioned and re-invigorated three historic buildings—ranging from a former hosiery mill to a more than century-old train station—into coffeehouses. The original building materials and historic structures were preserved and paired with Frothy’s funky style to create a local sense of place and a creative, inclusive atmosphere. With these expanded locations, Frothy Monkey is now able to serve an average of more than 2550 customers each day.
“We recognize that all of our neighborhoods are unique, so they each come with their own history and demographics, too. By building our cafes inside historic or pre-existing buildings we want to honor the history of that community and give the buildings new life. We want to be a good contributor and historic preservation is a beautiful way to contribute to the community.”
—Ryan Pruitt, Frothy Monkey Owner and Managing Partner
Project Highlights
Services: Interior Renovation
Timeline: 2014-2017
Building Ages: Each building is on average more than 100 years old
Size:
4,200 SF Southside Chattanooga coffeehouse
3,200 SF Downtown Nashville coffeehouse
3,770 SF The Nations coffeehouse
Project Scope:
Designed and built three new Frothy Monkey coffeehouses in Nashville and Chattanooga, Tennessee
Project Outcomes:
Increased Frothy Monkey’s ability to seat nearly 500 more guests at a time
Revitalized three historic buildings
Helped Frothy Monkey expand regionally while maintaining the brand’s local heart and neighborhood commitment
Client
Frothy Monkey is an all-day cafe, specialty coffee roaster, and wholesale bakery with cafes in Nashville, Franklin, and Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Challenges and Objectives
Creating a Table for All
Frothy Monkey was created as a true all-day café and a table for all. The brand envisioned spaces where families enjoyed brunch, couples—young and old—went on dates, students studied, professionals grabbed coffee to-go, and friends caught up over cocktails. To achieve this vision, Frothy needed its spaces to seamlessly transition from day to night and be accessible to anyone and everyone.
Local Heart + Regional Growth
Frothy Monkey was faced with seemingly dueling desires—wanting to remain a committed local neighborhood brand while growing to serve new communities. GHP’s design team was challenged to help Frothy Monkey create coffeehouses that merge Frothy’s brand with each community’s distinct local flavor.
Historic Building Limitations
When working with historic buildings, a number of challenges come into play. These include:
Tailoring designs to a building’s existing structure
Determining what original building elements to preserve, restore, recreate, or demo
Bringing a historic building up to modern codes related to safety, mechanical, electrical, ADA, and other needs
Equipping a historic building to support modern technology needs
Adapting a historic building to serve a new function outside of its original intended design, including installation of a commercial kitchen, seating area, bar, and more
Assessing for hazardous materials and any related remediation
Solution
Understanding Frothy Monkey’s neighborhood-focused vision, GHP helped the brand identify historic buildings in three target communities. By investing in the revitalization of these aging buildings, Frothy supported the revitalization of the larger community and has become an active contributor to each neighborhood’s existing narrative. The chosen buildings each average more than 100 years in age, are centrally located, and walkable.
GHP partnered with Frothy to assess each building’s limitations, opportunities, framework, and visible and hidden hazards. Using these findings, designs were created that uniquely suited each space. These designs infused the building’s existing local history with Frothy Monkey’s branding to create three distinct yet cohesive coffeehouses.
Frothy Monkey Downtown Nashville
Across from the iconic Arcade shopping area, the main challenge of Frothy Monkey’s downtown Nashville location was spatial restrictions. As with many downtown buildings, while the location was prime, the 3,200 SF footprint was tight. GHP coordinated with authorities to expand the existing building outward onto the sidewalk to maximize interior space. A mezzanine was also designed for additional seating, allowing Frothy Monkey to seat approximately 90 customers inside and 12 customers outside. Bar seating, standard tables, booths, and bistro tables have also been incorporated to serve a variety of customer needs.
Frothy Monkey The Nations, Nashville
Formerly the Belle Meade Hosiery Mill, Frothy Monkey’s Nations coffeeshop weaves industrial interiors with an open concept and art deco flair to embody Frothy’s inclusive, eclectic style. The 3,770 SF space features the building’s original brick, posts, beams, and wood, paired with complementary steel factory-style windows. These aged materials infuse the space with a warm, worn-in, approachable atmosphere. Minimal architectural additions included the commercial kitchen, bar, storage area, and restrooms as well as a wall mural by a local artist.
Prior to construction, GHP tested the space to determine optimal seating and adequate support for kitchen and back-of-house needs. This led the team to reinforce the original flooring to fully support the structural load of the kitchen. The final space now features a mix of interior seating for 125 people—including standard-sized tables, booths, bar stools, community tables, and private dining. An exterior patio was also designed to the owner’s specifications, equipped to serve up to 30 people.
Frothy Monkey Southside Chattanooga
In the case of Frothy Monkey’s 4,200 SF Chattanooga coffeehouse, GHP navigated the existing infrastructure of the Chattanooga Choo Choo Historic Hotel that is recognized in National Register of Historic Places. Encountering setbacks due to structural constraints of the more than century-old building, GHP managed collaborative solutions that allowed construction to finish ahead of schedule and within budget. Blending elements of historic Chattanooga with Frothy’s branding, the coffeehouse features an open bar, exposed structural steel columns and beams, an expansive open kitchen, outdoor patio, mezzanine, and more. Incorporating a variety of seating options ranging from bar to community tables, Frothy Monkey’s Chattanooga location can seat approximately 150 people inside and 30 people outside.
Results
Adding seating for nearly 500 people across all three locations, Frothy Monkey’s downtown Nashville, Nations, and Southside Chattanooga coffeehouses equipped the brand to expand its customer base substantially and serve new neighborhoods. The diversity of seating options, open concepts, and preservation of the character-rich historic aesthetics helped achieve Frothy Monkey’s vision of being an accessible all-day café with local heart.
The team’s adaptive reuse of the three previously vacant historic spaces also gave new life to old, storied spaces. During project construction, little, if any, demolition waste was generated—with most building materials being refurbished and reused.
Together, Frothy Monkey and GHP were able to reimagine vacant, commercial spaces into inviting, communal hubs—and we look forward to Frothy Monkey’s next destination.