Compass Coffee 1301 K Street

Compass Coffee 1301 K Street

Application: Interiors

Building Type: Hospitality

Compass Coffee’s inhouse design team is adept at creating unique design concepts for their coffee shops that reflect the neighborhood they are located in. This Washington, D.C. coffee shop, located in the Washington Post Headquarters combines modern materials for an elevated, airy and polished design.

Compass Coffee selected Parklex Prodema’s Walnut species as an elegant feature element of this café. The vertically oriented tongue and groove planks clad the walls vaulted ceiling. Set in the vaulted ceiling, linear lighting draws the eye upward and speaks to the height of the space.

Special care was taken when selecting wood as the material behind the barista bar—an area regularly exposed to splashes and steam. Because of Parklex Prodema’s resin encapsulation process, the wood veneer is protected from splashes and stains. The finish is durable and unaffected by pH neutral cleaners and the tongue and groove installation method allows for tight joints between planks and no gaps, making maintenance very simple.

PPSI worked with the Compass team to develop a custom terrazzo mix for this location. A white marble aggregate mixture in a white background is a crisp canvas for the warmth of the Walnut wood. A custom brass inlay of the Compass Coffee logo was set in the terrazzo at the entrance.

Poured in place epoxy terrazzo was chosen for its density and stain resistance. The neat resin binder of the epoxy terrazzo has 0.01% absorption and the polished marble chips have a .5% porosity. These dense materials, in conjunction with a sealer protect the terrazzo topping from staining or acid attack, a potential condition especially at the coffee bar.

On your next trip to DC, be sure to pop into Compass Coffee for a pick me up. They also happen to make the best oat milk latte in all of Washington, DC – at least in the opinion of our interior product rep, Bethany Fischer.