Wainwright Bank & Trust Co.’s Davis Square office, which is one of a handful of “cyber-cafe” branches in the Bay State, reached its two-year deposit goal in six months, according to bank officials.

The walls are pink and orange with a splash of yellow, the chairs are plush with polka dots and the ceiling is lined with a bright shade of blue paint. No, it is not your local day care center, it is part of the newest concept in banking offices, one designed to make walking into a branch a whole new colorful – and high-tech – experience.

Branch executives are offering up lattes while waiting for the final approval on a client’s mortgage, CNN coverage plays continuously on the flat-screen television and national and local newspapers and magazines are available to customers who are waiting to speak with a bank representative.

The idea of the cyber-cafe branch – a technologically advanced branch site offering clients high-speed Internet access and free e-mail alongside the branch’s in-house cafe – is new to historically traditional New England, but as customers are spending more time in bank branches, industry experts say branches must be adapted to meet the needs of the customer.

“For the bigger banks, the focus is on brand identity and for the smaller banks the focus is on getting the customers excited about the bank,” said Bryan Poisson, principal and owner of Approach Architects in Boston. Poisson has designed innovative branches in Cambridge for Cambridgeport Bank in Harvard Square and Wainwright Bank & Trust Co. in Central Square, as well as a second branch for Wainwright in Somerville’s Davis Square and various other bank branches in and around Boston. “Everything we design is unique to the environment and the community where the branch resides,” he said.

Poisson said the mission statement of the bank is used to generate the branch designs, which range from the more traditional branch site featuring open ceilings and still photography, to the Art Nuevo and edgy look including bold colors, splashy artwork and unusual building elements.

In some instances the interior of the branch has been completely gutted and redesigned, while in others existing fixtures and furnishings have been resurfaced for a cleaner and fresher look.

“We design a branch based on the bank’s values [and those] their client base is looking for,” Poisson said.

For some banks, this modern design is a way to create a distinct identity for the bank name, but for the few community banks opening “cyber-branches” around the Bay State, designing a new branch atmosphere is a way to connect with customers and the community.

With Davis Square being heralded as the Boston area’s SoHo, the idea of a cyber-cafe branch for Wainwright was not far-fetched, according to Steve Young, senior vice president of marketing at Boston-based Wainwright and conceptual architect of the bank’s Davis Square cyber-cafe branch.

When courting the Boston area’s “up-and-coming clientele,” Young said, banks must look beyond just the service offerings to find ways to distinguish themselves in the eyes of their customers.

That challenge is even greater for an institution that relies heavily on branch offices to attract customers and deposits, and also for community banks aimed at defining their sense of community and commitment to the neighborhoods in which the branches reside, said Young.

Architects and designers preserved the old Woburn industrial atmosphere with Danvers Savings Bank’s Woburn branch by incorporating open ceilings and black and white pictures on the walls to create a more commercial-branch look, according to Eileen Lubas, vice president of retail at Danvers Savings.

“We have been looking at branch design for almost five years now … and we are easing our way into this retail atmosphere,” said Lubas. “A lot of the decision was wanting to set this branch apart from the others so it’s a more utilitarian look, as opposed to the traditional banking site.”

Expanding Footprint

According to Lubas, New England customers still have a traditional view on banking so it is essential in new branch design to complement both the customer’s views and the banking industry’s latest trends.

“About five years ago there was a philosophy that the branch was dead – that has turned out to be untrue,” said Lubas. “Consumers want the branch and now we have to find a way to make the branch profitable.”

And the new concept of branch renewal has paid off, according to Young, who said Wainwright Bank’s new branch concept has played a large part in the bank’s overall increased customer base and record profits.

“We are having a record year and record profits, but the cyber-branch [in Davis Square] itself is attracting new clients and it reached its two-year deposit goal in six months,” said Young. “We plan to keep expanding our footprint in the Boston area with these types of branches.”

Lubas and Young agree that the idea of a retail-model branch is becoming more common in the Bay State as banks realize the needs of their clients are changing.

“It’s a realization that the money isn’t going to [just] walk in to us anymore so we have to set up a customer flow and make it [in-person banking] user-friendly,” said Lubas.

According to Young, renewing a branch design is about the customer experience, and while “there are still a lot of banks building branches the way it’s usually done, there are other banks opening up to the retail experience. We just thought about customer experience when we designed.”

While designers, architects and bank executives brainstorm on new and innovative branch designs, Poisson it is equally important to remember the bank’s needs.

“Every branch is different in terms of design,” said Poisson. “Banks have done their market research and know where they need to be.”

But Poisson stresses the importance of creativity in design and said that while some banks are still more comfortable with a traditional and classic branch atmosphere, “It’s nice to bring them into the new millennium.”