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A group of people walk and gather in a grassy urban park with stone paths, featured on the cover of AZURE magazine promoting the AZ Awards 2026.
Current Issue

Summer 2026

A group of people walk and gather in a grassy urban park with stone paths, featured on the cover of AZURE magazine promoting the AZ Awards 2026.
#316
Summer 2026

The June/July/August 2026 edition of AZURE is dedicated to our 16th annual AZ Awards — and also features the best of Milan, the New Museum’s expansion, the latest in building envelope systems and more!

The AZ Awards issue packs much more than our winners and finalists — though they certainly take pride of place. (And you can read all about them on our dedicated AZ Awards site.)

For a tiny raw-food concession stand in a Montreal supermarket, L. McComber creates maximum impact with a smooth shell in cherry wood.

Crudessence, a Montreal company that sells raw food products, runs a number of eateries in the city and even boasts its own learning academy, has just opened an eye-catching concession stand inside a local supermarket. Located in the suburb of Brossard, the Avril health food market is akin to Whole Foods, so the setting makes sense for Crudessence’s menu of organic and vegan smoothies, salads, desserts and more.

The 200-square-foot stand is animated and organized by its swooping enclosure in CNC-cut cherry wood. Resembling a natural husk – like a cocunut or walnut shell – it wraps the kitchen and counter. It provides a natural complement to the stainless steel appliances, including a freezer and refrigerator, but no microwaves or ovens. And its signage – carved onto the front – is both elegant and attention-grabbing.

The project represents the third collaboration between Crudessence and design firm L. McComber. The studio’s first eat-in venue for Crudessence also represented a feat of packing maximum personality into a tiny space, this time a 400-square-foot bar in Plateau Mont-Royal. And the second, a much roomier restaurant in Centre-ville, showed how it can create serene interiors with lots of wood and many intimate details.

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