In today’s short read, we’re excited to share how we transformed the outdoor space at Café Sous Terre in downtown Detroit. This French café, located near Wayne State University, offers a variety of French food and coffee. By day, it’s a cozy café, but by night, it becomes a popular hangout spot. The café wanted to create a new outdoor patio that would comply with Detroit’s regulations around outdoor alcohol consumption.
Working Together on the Design
We first connected with Café Sous Terre’s owner, Ray, through a general contractor. After several weeks of discussing design ideas and pricing, we landed on a plan that was both practical and achievable. Once we had a clear vision, we got to work bringing the outdoor patio to life.
Building the Patio
To create the perfect outdoor space, we chose Techo-Bloc materials for the flooring and Perfect Turf artificial grass for a low-maintenance, modern look. The goal was to design a space that would appeal to the café’s typical customers — mostly college students and young professionals. We wanted the patio to be welcoming, stylish, and easy to maintain. The entire installation took about two and a half weeks. One of the biggest challenges was working around the café’s daily flow of customers, who were constantly walking in and out. Despite the challenge, the project went smoothly, and the final result exceeded expectations.
A Successful Transformation
The new outdoor patio space has been a big hit with the local community. Both the café owner and the customers are thrilled with the results, and we’ve received several compliments about the design. We’re proud of how the space turned out and are happy that it fits so well with the café’s atmosphere. Below, you can check out some photos of the transformation from start to finish! — This version simplifies the language, improves sentence structure, and makes the flow easier to follow. Let me know if you’d like any further changes!
