It was a complicated project that required a strong creative vision, multiple permits with a very restricted budget. Melanie and her talented team managed it all seamlessly, solving issues quickly, and consistently introducing elements that respected the low budget while delivering high impact.

A la Mode Pies West Seattle is a pie shop, community gathering spot, production kitchen and classroom all-in-one. Every inch of the café is designed for the customer.

• Walk through the door and be greeted by a custom pie display showcasing 12-15 varieties of pie followed by a long white marble counter equipped with built-in hot plates for savory quiche and Shepherd’s pie.
• Pies cooling on racks separate the café from the theater style kitchen – offering an invitation to customers to be a part of the pie-making process.
• Customers sitting the café often say it feels warm, cozy, clean and beautifully designed. Most often they mention the interesting types of ceramic tile throughout – delicately paired together – a nod to Melanie’s eye for detail – as well as the warm and inviting color palate.
• The café is filled with special touches, like the antique pie safe repurposed into a trash/compost receptacle; vintage chandeliers from an old Chicago Hotel that Melanie discovered while traveling; large planks of thick barn wood serve as counters, each plank sourced by hand from an apple barn in Duvall, WA.

As the owner of multiple locations, I’ve had the opportunity to work with several architectural firms in Seattle. The Dynamik Space team is my absolute favorite (the Dream Team) as they exceeded my expectations on this project starting with the initial design brainstorm all the way to Opening Day. After this experience, I feel confident saying that Dynamik will always take a highly creative approach to any project and will successfully manage all-aspects of a complicated construction project with ease. Their willingness to constantly be on the lookout for new ideas, even after the project is complete, only confirms that Dynamik Space is the official architect of A la Mode Pies.

I would highly recommend Melanie and Dynamik Space for any design and construction project.

I have worked with Melanie on several projects. Her breadth and depth from various perspectives, e.g architectural, interior design, food trends, brand development, make her a valuable resource for clients. She follows through on her commitments in a timely manner. She is creative and appreciates innovation while simultaneously taking the needs and risk comfortability of her clients into account. Her, and her company’s [3.14 DC’s], ability to provide a multitude of integrated services for clients can make the process of brand development much easier – from start to finish. She has been a strong collaborator in team environments which are more and more the case in today’s food service world.

Melanie has always impressed me with her creativity, professionalism and connecting the clients goals with winning results. Dynamik [3.14DC] understands the functionality needs of a space and delivers unique & custom design, that match the clients style. Melanie takes the time to find out the true goals of the client and provides a platform to develop ideas & collaborate your brand. Melanie makes the process easy, step by step, plus is a contractor, a designer and an architect, a one stop shop. I have recommended several local & national retailers to Melanie, owner of Dynamik Space, along with Landlords-Developers. All of them have been pleasantly surprised at the end of the process (cautious from bad experiences with other similar companies)- excited and geared up, because Melanie took them out of the box and positioned them for their brand – not a cookie cutter —the design & style provided an environment for profit, economic sense workable space and could sustain growth, i.e. success

Melanie was such a pleasure to work with at The Retail Group. She [3.14DC] inspired our team members to work toward innovative solutions, and was recommending green building materials ten years ago, long before most designers and architects had green on their design radar. Her keen intellect and sense of humor makes her both a tremendous team player as well as a very capable leader.

The Dreamology Session that our group participated in was not only fun and engaging but provided us the tools to imagine something different for the future of our campus planning. It [3.14DC] went beyond food and beverage, and integrated “Life” and how experiences can be designed in the future to integrate all aspects of living including; working, playing, eating, shopping, gathering, learning, and healing. Our group got excited about the higher level out of the box thinking – that then guided them to the food and beverage experiences that envision for the future.