Blue Bottle Coffee Kiyosumi-Shirakawa Roastery & Café

Japan Commercial Environmental Design Association (JCD) Review

This production site—which unites a coffee roastery, a café, an office, a training room for future baristas, and a pastry factory—occupies the space of a renewed warehouse. The aura of the warehouse as it is and the store’s equipment (counter, furniture, shelves, machines) seem to be unintended but succeed in bringing into being a space contrived with meticulous care. As a result, an unwinding sensation has been achieved, turning the location into an attractive café. On Sundays, in this residential downtown area of Tokyo, one can observe visitors ready to wait in line outside for two hours. While the design is highly elaborated, it manifests emptiness. It is a representative expression of Japan’s UNDESIGNED.

Architectural design: Schemata Architects / Jo Nagasaka