For California Jamba Juice, Fresh Inspiration is Just Outside the Door

Bright Walls

Jamba Juice’s recently opened Innovation Bar in Pasadena, California showcases a fresh new design idea completed by Bestor Architecture, one that combines branding with local influences. The idea is to make stores stand out from the generic, repetitive experience found at most chains.

Bestor noticed similarities between the bright colors used in Jamba Juice stores and those used by the late Deborah Sussman in her eye-catching Los Angeles designs from the 1980s. Bestor’s design updates this palette of vibrant colors by blowing it up into supergraphics on the wall. These play well with the restaurant’s seafoam green walls and light wood accents.

Wooden bar

The store’s location has a rich history. This building itself served the community as a drugstore in the 1940s and has a landmarked exterior. Bestor embedded that character in her design with a tin ceiling and deep moldings that evoke the structure’s historic roots.

The real goal of Jamba Juice’s Innovation Bar is to build part of the community. So while paying homage to local designs, Bestor also tried to create a space where people can work and relax. She calls it “slow casual.” [Photography and information courtesy of Fast Company]

Chatting in the afternoon