Shane Davis has overhauled an industrial building in Brooklyn's Gowanus area into a spot that functions as a vegan cafe by day, and a bar and restaurant, complete with a nightclub, after dark.
Located at the tip of the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, Public Records is the brainchild of musician Francis Harris and Shane Davis, who was the project's lead designer, and hospitality director Erik VanderWal.

Davis and the team renovated the historic brick building from 1912 to include three different venues: an all-day vegan eatery, an Audiofile record and cocktail bar, and a listening and performance space called The Sound Room.
"Public Records is a music driven social space," Davis said.

The property was originally the headquarters for Brooklyn's American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), and was later used by a church organ restoration company, a vintage guitar restoration shop and a retail space. Much of the original structure was kept and upgraded with paint, including exposes pipes, pillars and ductwork.
"The history of the building was an inspiration," Davis said. "The atrium is historic and was left intact," he added." Everything is super DIY."

"The strategy was to leave as much of the original bones in tact while adding functional elements for sound attenuation," Davis continued.
In the main area, where there is the bar and restaurant, is an atrium-like space with cream walls and matching concrete p...