These days we throw around the word “gate kept” pretty liberally when it comes to places, but La Laguna is quite literally gate kept. Located a ways out from the typical touristy pedestrian parts of the city, you wouldn’t know what’s happening inside in the generally nondescript concrete building (check). Even if you know where you’re going, you might second guess if you’re in the right place.

To get in you have to ring a bell, get buzzed in, and then check in on an iPad at the counter cosplaying as an art student. The check in form is in Spanish, but even elementary knowledge of the language is enough to get through.

Once you’re let in, you are immersed in a young, hip, creative oasis. It’s giving the PLATFORM in Culver City, or Industry City in Brooklyn, or any other industrial-to-creative hub conversion you’ll see in every major city these days. This version is a former thread factory in Doctores turned a mix of working studios, cafes, and retail. Lively courtyards with people sitting, mingling, chatting, talking shop. A selection of design-forward lifestyle shops. A gallery and vintage furniture store off to the side. An expansive coffee roaster in the back.