We were asked to forego the traditional lounge motif that epitomizes today’s coffee shop culture, and create a new iconic look for the cafe typology. In our pursuit of this new "icon", we challenged the conventional idea of "iconic" -- what is iconic? What does it mean to be a landmark?
Open for business! The green "Living Wall" acts both as a partition to create numerous spatial experiences that encourage different activities.
We came to the conclusion that the design should be an icon of the people. Considering the context of contemporary European cities, the design should not take away from the beautiful existing urban fabric. Such as an iconic plaza, the cafe shall be recognized not by its form but by the social interactions it encourages. An element of greenery was introduced to complement the conversation of coffee.
Floor plan diagram illustrating the various design elements.
Living Wall schemes and sectional diagram.
Aerial view
A peak at our thought process...