We talk about 3D printing a lot. It continually amazes us to learn how different people and industries are using this technology to change the world around them, from new bone implants to recyclable print materials, and you don’t have to be Miss America to reap the benefits a 3D printer. You just have to stop at London’s new makersCAFE, a 3D printing, laser-cutting and coffee shop hybrid that we wish was less than a plane ride away from Brit HQ.

According to their website, “makersCAFE is a space for makers, wonderers, tinkerers, the designers and creatives in general. For those of us who need our caffeine while cultivating these fragile ideas.”

Maker venues like this have been popping up here and there all over the world. There are actually similar cafes in Germany, China and Spain. makersCAFE’s owner Soner Ozenc has taken inspiration from those venues, but also draws on his background as the founder of RazorLab, an online design studio where you can send your own designs and have them etched or laser cut.

makersCAFE just opened a couple of weeks ago in the Shoreditch neighborhood and currently has a few simple offerings. If you’d like to use the 3D printers or laser cutters, it’s £1 per minute to rent time. If you want to grab coffee and simply soak up the creative environment, you can certainly do that, too. “Customers will have a chance to see the actual machines and the idea is they will come with their ideas and will witness their ideas becoming physical objects,” Ozenc told the IBTimes UK. You could meet with your designer over lattes and leave later that afternoon with new shop signage or laser-cut invites for your DIY wedding.

To encourage collaboration and support the makers, Ozenc also plans to host regular social events at the cafe like workshops, guest speakers and parties. “In the daytime, people can come in to have their items laser-cut or 3D-printed, but after 6 p.m., makersCAFE will be running workshops, talks and parties to make digital manufacturing more accessible to the public,” Ozenc added.

(images via makersCAFE, IBTimes UK and Timeout)

We love how cafes and shared spaces like this are making this technology much more accessible to everybody. Is there anything like this in your area?

Annie D'Souza
Annie is the founding father and editor-in-chief of The Midwestival and a long-time jean-on-jean enthusiast.