Cape Spear Interpretive Cafe

Cape Spear National Historic Site is located on the most easterly point of land in Canada and features the oldest surviving lighthouse in Newfoundland and Labrador. This project provides a Concept Design for adapting the former Lightkeeper’s Residence into an Interpretive Cafe.

We were tasked with exploring creative ways to tell the story of the lighthouse and maritime culture through the use of engaging interpretation and experiential programming. Given the compact footprint of the building, a significant portion of the project was devoted to balancing the user experience with the circulation throughout the space. This limited the interpretive content to a single storyline: a perfect opportunity to tell the story of the eight lighthouse keepers over 150 years of operation and five generations.

The fully integrated design concept carries the interpretive stories into the physical space and the brand identity. Designed to engage visitors throughout their cafe experience, it provides a sense of what life was like at the isolated outpost. Five key interpretive areas address specific sub-topics and include a timeline of the Cantwell family’s lineage, the changing role of a lightkeeper, display cases for artifacts, quotes from family members about their living conditions, and large photographs depicting their life over time.

Project Team

Matt Reynolds (Project Lead), John deWolf (Interpretive Design), Adam Fine (Interpretive Research), Chris Crawford (Project Architect). Firm of Record: Fathom Studio.