The Turf Club is the last remaining bar from the historic Asbury Park West Side music and nightlife scene. Once vibrant and full of culture, it now stands as four cinderblock walls. A team of two architects and I, a graphic designer, undertook the challenge of reimagining this space as a Busking Café for an architectural contest. Our goal was to revitalize the interior into a multi-functional community space with zones for collaboration, exhibitions, and live performances. The vision was to create an environment that amplifies local talent while honoring the historical and cultural significance of the Turf Club for the Asbury Park neighborhood.
We began by engaging with city officials, local historians, and non-profit leaders to understand the building’s history and current preservation efforts. The Turf Club is in the process of becoming a registered historic site, with federal funding and support from notable icons like Bruce Springsteen. Inspired by these insights, we aligned our design with community-driven goals, including creating gallery spaces for the Asbury Park African American Music Project (AP-AAMP). Key Design Elements: Signature Wall: Honoring the legacy of performers who graced the Turf Club stage during its heyday with an accordion-style book for signatures. Listening Bar: Personal listening stations inspired by a historic record shop owner’s collection, allowing visitors to explore the past through music. Gallery Space: A northern façade gallery for AP-AAMP to showcase local photography and community stories. The design embraced a 70s aesthetic, with warm hues, wooden paneling, and bold reds and yellows for furniture and flooring. Renderings, created in Rhino and Enscape, were presented in a postcard-inspired board format. To further communicate our vision, we crafted a promotional video using Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects. While the project is ongoing and pending reception, we remain committed to revitalizing the Turf Club as a hub for creativity, collaboration, and cultural preservation.
Design Proposal for Turf Club
