April 25, 2022

Words: Annie Block

Photography: Architekturfotografie Andreas J. Focke

Ippolito Fleitz Group–Identity Architects Creates a Vibrant Coffee Bar for Gen Zers in Munich

Young and dynamic. Straightforward yet detailed. That was the atmospheric goal—and result—for Ippolito Fleitz Group–Identity Architects at New Era, a coffee bar in Munich. Situated in the city’s Schwabing district, a vibrant student-populated neighborhood, Interior Design Hall of Fame members Gunter Fleitz and Peter Ippolito and their team strove to attract the Gen Z set starting from the street. Through the storefront’s glazing, passersby can catch glimpses of the rhythmic ceiling, a geometric landscape of gray, yellow, and teal cubes, actually printed and folded Forex boxes—a solution that’s at once chic, lightweight, and budget friendly. The energy continues to the wall-color palette, a spirited mix of lavender, peach, and royal blue, the latter reappearing on the café’s upholstered lounge chairs, placed in arrangements that suggest rooms within a room. Verdant live plants and barista workshops round out the 900-square-foot café, its offerings in step with its name.

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January 16, 2022

Words: Alex Bozikovic

Photography: Ema Peter

Perkins&Will Takes Home a Best of Year Award for Nemesis Coffee in Vancouver, Canada

2021 Best of Year winner for Hospitality – Coffee Counter

Comprising 10 petals of CNC-cut laminated timber clad in cherry-hued composite-aluminum shingles, this pavilion, an existing structure by Perkins&Will, is round in plan. After leasing it, Nemesis Coffee contacted the firm to design the 2,000-square-foot interior. The space “always wanted to be a coffee house,” senior associate Rufina Wu suggests. But the fit-out required finesse. “With our strongly sculptural building, the inside had to reference the architecture—and complement it.” Hence the feature ceiling element in which fins of white fabric stretch from a central oculus out toward the perimeter. LED strips spill soft light through the diffusing textile vanes for an effect that’s organic and calming while also echoing the exterior petals. The muted materials palette—glass, stainless steel, pale woods—creates a warm environment even on the city’s grayest days. Faced with pandemic supply-chain hiccups, the firm relied on a hometown fabricator for the curved birch-plywood paneling and a circular high table, its center planted with a tree. A stainless-steel bar slices through the middle of the plan, dividing the seating from the kitchen and service areas. Above, a continuous glass divider modulates from clear (for display cases) to reflective (concealing restrooms). “It reveals exactly what should be revealed,” Wu says, “and hides the rest.”

PROJECT TEAM

Perkins&Will: Ryan Bragg; Yehia Madkour; Rufina Wu; Mira Yung; Fargol Moshiri; Joanne Wong; Mahdiar Ghaffarian

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September 10, 2021

Words: Edie Cohen

Photography: Suzanna Scott

Studio Plow Designs a Meditative Headquarters for a Startup in San Francisco

Born in rural Oklahoma, and a graduate of Kansas State University, Brit Epperson’s Midwest roots run deep. But the architect is now based in San Francisco, which is where she founded Studio Plow, the firm name an homage to her heritage, five years ago. Her small team has been busy during the pandemic, including, perhaps surprisingly, with workplace projects, namely the 70,000-square-foot, three-story headquarters for Faire.

The office marks Plow’s second go-around for the digital platform, which connects makers with local and global retailers. The earlier project, completed in early 2019, “was a Craigslist special—a vanilla shell for a maximum capacity of 126,” Epperson recalls. Fast forward less than a year. The Faire office 2.0, prompted by “massive employee growth,” is the antithesis, thanks to the site, Epperson’s response to it, and her client’s vision toward a collegial change in how people work.

Faire now occupies a 1910 brick-and-timber former warehouse. After the architect of record addressed the necessary seismic and infrastructure upgrades, Epperson embraced the building’s rich, architectural history with the maxim: “Let’s lean into it.” Work spaces, mostly benching configurations, span the three levels. Nothing is crowded: Epperson made sure to limit neighborhoods to 25 employees and intersperse them with amenities. Lounges, a total of 22 throughout, are rife with seating options, beckoning as alternative work zones. Ad-hoc meeting areas can be cordoned off with textile partitions. Dozens of conference rooms plus a boardroom offer more traditional gathering outlets.

There are also multiple spots for recharging. The airy commissary, which doubles as the all-hands space, is populated with minimalist white steel picnic benches and pendant globes along with warmer Windsor-style ash chairs and round teak tables. Just past reception, again warm with a sectional sofa upholstered in brassy velvet, is Petit Faire, a French bistro–inspired coffee bar with a white-oak communal table and accessories from Faire wholesale vendors. Pantries, one per floor, are well-stocked, and live interior landscaping by a local LGBTQ-owned business is everywhere. (There’s also a pop-up with rotating Faire merchandise.)

But the real recharging happens in the dedicated meditation room, a tidy brick vault that Epperson transformed into a restful aerie with built-in oak benches, plush cream meditation cushions and carpet, and integrated speakers for staff to tune into Headspace or Breethe. Employees started trickling in last April, first at 5 percent, then up to 25 on a reservation basis in June. “We gave them lots of places to gather,” Epperson comments, “but it’s all so open that everything feels safe.” Calming indeed.

project Sources: FROM FRONT

Add tag via side panel: sconces (meditation room)

to market: carpet

sage meditation: cushions

Bentley Mills: carpet (lounges, conference room)

rh contract: coffee tables

urban outfitters: chairs (corner lounge)

West Elm: side table

eq3: sofa (corner lounge), rug (lounge), chairs (commissary)

armadillo: rugs (corner lounge, reception)

workstead: sconces (reception)

menu: sofa, table (reception), pendant fixtures (coffee bar), chairs (meeting area)

Blu Dot: sofas (lounge)

triple seven home: sconces (coffee bar)

ann sacks: floor tile

ceasarstone: bar top

skagerak: stools

klein agency: custom tables (coffee bar, meeting area)

alcon lighting: pendant globes (commissary)

muuto: white benches, tables

kave home: round tables

designtex: curtain fabric (boardroom)

hpl contract: custom table

laura furniture: chairs

molo: partition (meeting area)

project sources Throughout

carnegie: curtain fabric

through minton door company: doors

mission glass: windows, storefront

benjamin moore & co.: paint

wac lighting: leds

huntsman architectural group: architect of record

murphy burr curry: structural engineer

plant fairies: interior landscaping

commercial casework: woodwork

nova partners: project management

bcci construction: general contractor

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Editor’s Note: This article was updated October, 2023, to include even more cafés serving up hot designs.

15 Cozy and Modern Café Interior Designs

1. A Coffee Machine Inspires the Look of this Café

Inspired by a classic coffee machine, this coffee shop design by NAAW employs a rich and creamy palette from the entrance to the countertop. For the specialty coffee shop, a classic La Marzocco coffee machine wasn’t just an essential piece of culinary equipment: it was the inspiration behind the entire design. When ABR Group asked the New Architects of Almaty Workshop (NAAW) team to brew up the look of the small café, they looked to the machine’s red exterior for the signature front door and accents, including the logo and brand identity. Read more about this coffee machine-inspired café.

2. Gen Z Rejoice: Inside a Trendy Coffee Bar in Munich

Through the storefront’s glazing, passersby can catch glimpses of the rhythmic ceiling, a geometric landscape of gray, yellow, and teal cubes. At once a solution that’s chic, lightweight, and budget-friendly, the ceiling cubes are actually printed and folded Forex boxes. The vibrant energy continues to the wall-color palette, a mix of lavender, peach, and royal blue, the latter reappearing on the café’s upholstered lounge chairs, placed in arrangements that suggest rooms within a room. Read more about this vibrant coffee shop primed for the Gen Z audience.

3. A Nautical Café in Marina Del Rey

The 1,000-square-foot storefront pairs expansive vertical space with intuitive programming and an Americana palette. Shamelessly nautical, cheeky, and punctuated with precise craftsmanship, Alfred Coffee’s newest location in Marina Del Rey, which opened in January 2023, plays up its waterside location. Read more about this sea-worthy coffee shop.

4. Futurism-Inspired Coffee Shop Design

Futurism, the early 20th-century Italian art movement celebrating dynamism and energy, inspired Kellie Patry when asked to conceptualize a new location for the female-founded coffee shop, Equator Coffees, a prime example of third-wave coffee. With bold colors and graphic accents, the Los Angeles location caters to its audience—film aficionados and an array of other creatives can appreciate the 1,400-square-foot shop located within Culver City’s Ivy Station, a five-acre complex comprising HBO’s new 240,000-square-foot headquarters, residential, retail, and hotel The Shay. Read more about “espresso futurism” and this bold café design.

5. A Zero-Waste Modern Coffee Shop Design

A community gathering space and premier example of sustainable design, this two-story coffee shop in Bangkok was forged from local upcycled materials. Milk cartons mixed with plywood, known as re-board, were utilized for the door, ceiling, and furnishings. Additionally, 600 beer bottles frame its facade. Read more about this sustainable café design.

6. Devoción’s Second Brooklyn Shop Feels Like an Indoor Garden Thanks to LOT Office for Architecture

Materials, furniture, and plants from Colombia honor the origin of Devoción’s brews. LOT Architecture infused Devoción with traditional motifs and vignettes that evoke casual street scenes. Handmade cement tile flooring in traditional patterns sets the mood, with intriguing geometric shapes continuing upward through the perforated brick-lined walls. Read more about this Colombian-inspired Brooklyn café.

7. The Pistachio Walls at Gard’Ann by Kissmiklos Look Good Enough to Eat

8. V12 Architects Use Whimsical Neon to Brighten a Modern Moscow Café

A colorful café splashed with lemon-yellow accents, glowing neon twists, and curved edges to soften the space was dreamed up by the designers of this Moscow coffee shop. With just over 2,100 square feet to cover and an exterior renovation in order, the cafe’s owners, the Karavaev Brothers, needed a team who could pack a visual punch into a space that still streamlined food service. V12 Architects were up to the task. Read more about this bright café with a colorful design.

9. City of Saints Coffee Roasters’ Bryant Park Café by Only If Architecture Glows in Modern Mint-Green Tones

The dominating palette for this Bryant Park café derives from the seafoam color of the fiberglass grating typically used for platforms on oil rigs, and utilized here for the first time as part of City of Saints Coffee Roasters’ company-wide rebranding effort. A centrally located counter, its quartzite top in a coordinating minty green, organizes guests circulating through the tidy 900 square feet in an orderly looped choreography, and a built-in banquette encourages conversation. Read more about the idea behind this modern coffee shop.

10. Colicci by Mizzi Studio Integrates Hospitality into a Stratford City Mall

This coffee kiosk is anything but cookie cutter. A lustrous jigsaw of 542 copper fragments forms the kiosk’s sculptural canopy, beckoning visitors at the busy Westfield mall. Read more about this and other international coffee shop ideas.

11. CUPONE by Soda Architects Brings Outdoor Themes Indoors

The Beijing cafe’s peacock-blue walls and white acrylic installation were inspired by streams of water. Guests can enjoy bar seating with outdoor views or snuggle up in the ocean-blue banquette seating. Read more about this blue cafe’s interior design.

12. Jensen Architects Brings a Shot of Life Back into an Oakland Automobile Showroom for Blue Bottle Coffee

Constructed by architect James Placheck in 1920 for the notorious car salesman, the W.C. Morse building had long served as a showroom for automobiles. As Michelle Ott, production artist for Blue Bottle Coffee, passed it, the storefront lacked the luster of years passed—but the ceramic tile and marble façade had the distinct sheen of potential. Above, the vinyl curtain separates a servicing workspace for the company’s tech department. Read more about how designers converted a former automobile showroom into the offices of a modern coffee company.

13. Happy Bones Café Serves Flat Whites in a Former NYC Meat Locker by Ghislaine Viñas Interior Design

Ghislaine Viñas created three distinct zones within this former meat locker-turned-coffee shop.  François Chambard designed the powder-coated steel and maple bar. An intimate archway greets guests at the entrance. The largest zone is filled with café seating and embraces the industrial nature of the space. The third zone is the coffee bar proper, with a canopy appearing to lower the ceiling. Read more about this industrial modern cafe interior design.

14. Dan Brunn Architecture Puts a Playful Spin on the White-Out Café Cliche at Coffee for Sasquatch

This Los Angeles hot spot is both clean and whimsical. The Sasquatch logo cut-out on the wall is the main event, but other features are also worthy of note. Serpentine benches of milky terrazzo segue seamlessly into beech millwork and a solid surfacing pastry case. A custom powder-coated espresso machine conveys the attention to detail. Read more about this playful coffee shop idea.

15. GB Space Gets Mood Lighting Right for PH Coffee in Beijing

Nodding to ancient Italian architecture, a latticed metal ceiling evokes the Renaissance. Archways and graphic flooring visually divide the “zones” of the store. Read more about the look of this café that conjures the aura of ancient classic architecture.

Want more coffee shop design ideas? Check out the latest in cafe and coffee shop interior design.

Related Posts:

Cafe Interior Design Ideas, 10 International Coffee Shops, This Café by Roar Has Us Seeing Shades of Gray, A Best of Year Award-Winning Coffee Shop in Vancouver, Canada, Sunny Accents Brighten This Cute Café, A University Coffee Shop Turns to Geometry

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