COLUMBUS, Ind. — Docomomo US, an organization that preserves modern architecture, landscapes, and design through principled advocacy, collaboration, and celebration, announced Wednesday that it had selected Lucabe Coffee to receive a 2022 Modernism in America Award Design Citation of Merit.
In 2021, the owners of Lucabe Coffee, Tyler and Alissa Hodge, opened their second location within the Irwin Union Bank building in Eastbrook Plaza.
Designed by Harry Weese in 1961, the building exemplified the Motor Age, featuring four drive-through windows and a large parking area just outside of a major highway. The 5,000-square-foot split-level building is best known for its crenulated towers, which Weese likened to a child’s vision of a castle.
The owners noticed the building when they first moved to Columbus, and with the recent proliferation of biking and pedestrian paths in the area, they saw an opportunity to adaptively reuse the structure as a new coffee house and gathering space for the community.
