Topped with a triangular roof, the Blue Bottle Coffee Nakameguro Cafe comprises a cafe on the first floor, as well as a tasting room and a workshop—two kinds of spaces new to Blue Bottle. Wooden countertops, an open floor plan, plants, and transparency temper industrial elements, such as the tall ceilings and concrete surfaces. The coffeehouse serves a community gathering space for workshops or coffee sampling sessions. The Blue Bottle Coffee teams from Japan and the U.S. occupy the upper two floors.
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“Since this neighborhood is located far from the station, the streets are lined with many unique and small-sized shops,” writes the architect. “In order to continue the sense of small scale into the space, floors are divided in a stepped-floor style, while utilizing the existing openings formerly used for loading/unloading and storing. Horizontal pivot windows installed on the front glass façade help defining the boundary between the interior and the surrounding environment, while establishing a visual relationship of “see and be seen” so that people become aware of each other’s presence wherever they are in the space.”
+ Schemata Architecture Office
Images via Schemata Architecture Office, by Takumi Ota
