07/15/2026
In 2025, Integrated Design was given an opportunity to work on the design of a morning-to-dusk café and bar concept in Raleigh’s growing East End Market for Songbird's Charlie Blue Arm and Meg Paradise.
Finding the right space was part of the process. The team ultimately landed on an empty shell space tucked off East Whitaker Mill Road, within a former industrial supply and storage depot recently revitalized by local developer Atlas Stark. The adaptive reuse setting proved to be the right fit for a concept rooted in locality, flexibility, and connection.
The compact footprint brought its own design challenge: how do you fit a smoothie and cocktail bar into 800 square feet while keeping the space comfortable, functional, and welcoming? Working alongside our engineering partners at Bass Nixon & Kennedy and Gateway Building Company, Integrated Design came up with some creative solutions to make the kitchen, bar, and service flow work efficiently, while still leaving room for guests and staff to interact naturally.
The result is a cozy, intimate café and bar space that feels both thoughtful and approachable—a setting designed to celebrate locality, seasonality, and the vision of two creative voices in Raleigh’s expanding food and beverage scene.
