In recent years, the decline of third spaces (if you're not at home, and you're not at work, where are you?) has strained community connections. These spaces are where people gather, connect, and simply be, making them essential for social interaction and a sense of belonging. Coffee shops have filled this gap for years and continue to do so, offering flexible, welcoming environments that can fulfill a wide range of needs. Whether people come to work, catch up with friends, unwind, or enjoy a moment alone, coffee shops have become modern-day third spaces—hubs of connection and community at a time when we need them most.

Through site visits to coffee shops in Austin, this project employs diverse methods, including observational research, interviews with coffee shop patrons and owners, and data analysis of customer behavior, to understand how coffee shops function as third spaces and how their unique design elements can apply to other environments to cultivate a sense of belonging and comfort. By exploring what makes coffee shops effective multipurpose spaces, this project sparks conversation about how these principles can be applied to other settings to strengthen community life and foster deeper connections.

This project aims to understand the physical design elements, such as layout, ambiance, and flexibility, as well as the intangible aspects that make coffee shops inviting, such as the sense of inclusivity, neutrality, and the permission they give people to "just be." These insights will inform design interventions to transform other public spaces into more welcoming, functional environments.

By examining what makes coffee shops successful as third spaces, this project addresses the growing need for places where people can gather, connect, and engage more deeply with their communities. It will serve as a way to create conversation on reconsidering the design of public spaces.