William Cottiss
P-01 / Case study Index of work

Access Café

Founder. Brand and identity, coffee program, buildout, admin, lease and building-owner relations, and vendor coordination.

Access Café is a member-owned café and public commons, owned by five. It began as a series of pop-ups around the Winooski watershed in 2022 and landed at 64 Main Street in Montpelier. The 64 Main run, from November 2024 to February 2025, was the longest Access Café pop-up. The space had been flood-damaged in July 2023. The café opened with a free community meal and more than thirty vendors, and it is now closed. The current site lives at cafeaccess.com.

RoleFounder
Place64 Main Street, Montpelier VT
RunNov 2024 to Feb 2025
StatusClosed · cafeaccess.com
Facets
  • placemaking
  • brand
  • hospitality
  • buildout
P-01.1 / The room, flood to open 6 plates
After a few years of pop-ups around the watershed, the café took a room of its own at 64 Main Street.
After a few years of pop-ups around the watershed, the café took a room of its own at 64 Main Street.
The Winooski ran down Main Street in July 2023, and the space still carried that flood when the café moved in.
The Winooski ran down Main Street in July 2023, and the space still carried that flood when the café moved in.
The room came dark-floored, with the last tenant’s order counter still standing.
The room came dark-floored, with the last tenant’s order counter still standing.
The buildout happened inside the room, starting with the long communal table at its center.
The buildout happened inside the room, starting with the long communal table at its center.
The doors opened with all five owners working the floor.
The doors opened with all five owners working the floor.
On a full night the room filled under Renée Greenlee’s cyanotype tapestry, from her Blue Alchemy series.
On a full night the room filled under Renée Greenlee’s cyanotype tapestry, from her Blue Alchemy series.
P-01.2 / The work in three moves
01 / Voice

The identity

The mark is a spiral wound into an @, drawn by hand and then digitized as a vector so it could hold at any size: a window, a cup, a sandwich board on the sidewalk. One drawing became the whole kit the café could keep using without a designer on call.

The café’s mark started as a drawing, a spiral wound into an @.
The café’s mark started as a drawing, a spiral wound into an @.
The same mark, redrawn as a vector, holds on a window, a cup, or a sign.
The same mark, redrawn as a vector, holds on a window, a cup, or a sign.
02 / Place

The welcome

The door met you with “Welcome, Beloved Community” and a hand-lettered Kazu Haga quote: “Beloved community is an acknowledgment that the only way for a peace to ever be sustainable, the only way that our people can always be safe, is if all people are free. One of the hardest concepts to commit to is the idea that there is no one outside of Beloved Community. No one.” It set the terms of the room before anyone ordered.

The hand-lettered Kazu Haga quote at the door, under the café’s sun mark.
The hand-lettered Kazu Haga quote at the door, under the café’s sun mark.
03 / Place · Hospitality

The commons

Owned by five, the café opened with a free community meal and more than thirty local vendors. The dinner menu carried Kalé’s stews and their story, priced on a sliding scale, with no one turned away.

On opening day the five owners gathered out front under the poster.
On opening day the five owners gathered out front under the poster.
P-01.3 / Press and the site