Snap-on

Café

Snap-on Incorporated is the leading global innovator, manufacturer, and marketer of high-performance tools and other solutions for professional users performing critical tasks. With their centennial anniversary approaching, Kahler Slater designed a cafe experience for Snap-on’s dedicated associates and 100-year legacy. This reimagined dining experience engages with associates across the building’s expansive floor plate, centrally located in the heart of the facility.

The design solution emphasizes a limited palette of Snap-on signature brand colors, black, white, and pops of vibrant red. A partial height wall lined with back to back booth seating defines the edge of the dining space from a high traffic walking path. Each booth is wrapped in leather with custom artwork framing vintage logos of the company’s rich past. Bold typography stamps the walls with the founding date of 1920, a 2020 version will be added after the first of the year.

The main dining room offers varied choices in dining experience; bar-height communal tables that harken back to a shop table or drafting table give groups a place to meet over coffee or to share lunch. Individual red pendant lights dangle over the tables and add a hint of color to the space. A long leather banquette with detailed red stitching grounds the opposite edge of the room, which buffers the room from the adjacent workspaces. Bolster pillows add pops of the Snap-on red along the banquette bench seat.

A brand new, cutting edge servery was added to offer the best in class workplace dining experience to the associates. The space is designed for efficiency and flow, but also for ease of visibility of all the food choices. A large red “S” of the Snap-on logo welcomes the guest as it folds into a red wall beyond. A large open-hearth oven is featured that is clad in shiny red hexagon tiles that mimic the bolts of the machines that the Snap-on tools service. Glossy white subway tiles and brushed stainless steel create a clean backdrop for the food offerings and are very easy for the staff to maintain.

Integrated branding elements are seamless with the architecture. Tile inlays and painted on graphics make the space a special and unique space within the Snap-on headquarters. Simple dimensional lettering signage hangs over each food section in the servery making it easy for guests to locate the food options. A logo was custom designed for the café and the team created a backlit sign to mimic the vintage repair shops that built Snap-on’s legacy in the market.