The home and the workplace. Cherished at times but despised at others. The household to-do list appears ever-growing whilst work dishes out a constant stream of deadlines, targets and meetings. With only so many hours in a day, time then for socialising, recuperating and simply letting off steam is a hot commodity.

The spaces we spend this precious free time in are known as third places. Coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg in the 1970s, the concept of a third place refers to the social surroundings that are separate from the two most frequented social environments – the home and the workplace. From something as simple as a park bench to more organised spaces like cafes, restaurants, galleries and retail stores, third places are the anchors of community life. These places foster meaningful interactions both old and new, offer stress relief from the demands of home and work life and provide a sense of belonging to all the walks of life that make up the community around them.

Our very own James St offers a unique take on this concept of community gathering. Whilst the leafy laneways and sunny streets play host to a multitude of different third places, they have also become a third place in and of itself. For this month’s edition of the James St Journal, we’re unpacking the Russian nesting doll of third places that is James St, asking the vendors and traders behind your favourite third places how and where they like to spend their time on the street.

Providing the very foundation for many of the streets’ social hangouts, it seemed only fitting that we start our look into James St’s third places at Brickworks. In between their busy lives of providing expert architectural advice, curating their limited-edition Folio magazine and facilitating monthly design oriented events, the team at Brickworks can be found grabbing their morning coffees or a mid-afternoon sweet treat at The Green or at Gerries for their Friday afternoon post-work tradition of $2 oysters. For the team, It’s the laid-back, unintimidating vibe coupled with the familial “one of our own” approach to customer service of both venues that keep them coming back for more. Oh, and The Green’s limoncello and Basque cheesecakes are pretty hard to turn up too.

Next on our expedition was a stop into Rationale. Pros at rejuvenating others with their renowned research backed, personalised skin treatments, the Rationale team find moments of solace for themselves in their neighbours to the east, Molten Store. To them, nothing takes the mind off every day stresses quite like the dazzling delights of Molten Store’s collection of fine jewellery. The pair have formed a fast friendship, from conferring on trading times and taking packages for each other to playing dress up and testing out all the newest developments in skincare. Power Hour at Sunshine has also become a staple for the entire Rationale team. So much so that even the staff from the company’s head office make it a point to eat at the energetic, feel-good Mediterranean eatery when they come up from Melbourne.

Much like Rationale, the folks at Studio Gallery also share a penchant for a spot of window shopping. The hands on, tactile experiences provided by Mecca Cosmetica and Le Labo offer a welcome change to those admin heavy days and make discovering and learning about new products a creatively engaging endeavour. For the folks at Studio Gallery, no window shopping adventure is complete without a pitstop at The Nut Market. Not just connoisseurs and curators of fine art but also self-proclaimed snack aficionados, it’s the chocolate covered and yogurt covered almonds that are at the top of this team’s shopping list. The very much extensive range of sweet and savoury snacks along with its nonchalant, grab and go style is what has earnt The Nut Market top billing on Studio Gallery’s hit list. Plus, sometimes they give out free samples just for the love of their customer.

We rounded out our inaugural search for the street’s favourite third place at Le Labo where we were greeted with the zingy yet musky scent of this year’s City Series fragrance for Mexico, Coriandre 39. The team here swears by their daily coffee runs to ēmmē, not just for the caffeine fix, but for the warm smiles and friendly chatter from the restaurant’s staff. The later cafe hours are an added bonus, satisfying the Le Labo folks’ mid-arvo pick me ups and keeping them fuelled well into the evening. As most of us are here on James St, the team at Le Labo are major foodies and can be spotted frequenting any one of the local restaurants. Perhaps the biggest joy for this team, however, has been the unveiling of the new Laneway Bagels. Be it a breakfast on the run or leisurely late lunch, the week just isn’t quite complete without a fresh bagel and a heartwarming chat from the gang at Laneway Bagels.