Blue Bottle Coffee by Schemata Architects

We still remember when Blue Bottle Coffee, the niche American coffee brand, first arrived in Japan a decade ago, opening an outpost in the Kiyosumi area of Tokyo. Since then, the company has quickly expanded across the Japanese capital and beyond. Still finding room for growth in Tokyo‘s sprawling metropolitan area, Blue Bottle Coffee has inaugurated a sixteenth café a little while ago. Situated in Toyosu, an area of town which was once home to shipyards, but is now a sought-after residential area dotted with high-rise apartment buildings. Set smack in the middle of Toyosu Park, a highly popular recreational area, the coffee parlour sits on an expansive meadow, occupying a 279 sqm. (3,003 sq.ft.) wooden pavilion designed by architect Jo Nagasaka of local practice Schemata Architects. Fully adapting to the spaciousness of the open field, the structure has adopted an open, airy design which blurs the boundaries between indoor and outdoor, allowing the greens to be part of the café. The pavilion comprises in fact of four interconnected structures, each with a different size and height.

Interestingly, the interior design takes cues from the park’s resting spaces, featuring spacious eaves and semi-outdoor spaces as intermediary places connecting these areas with the café. The building form presents a gradual change of activities from outdoor, semi-outdoor to indoor, and visitors can enter the building from practically all sides. The aforementioned blurring of boundaries is instigated by the abundant use of red bricks for flooring and counters. The upper part of the façade is captured by FRP to seamlessly connect the indoor and outdoor, while bringing soft diffuse light to the entire space, creating a comfortable light environment. Additionally, the material has also been used in the design of the cantilevered outdoor table, which forming an organic continuation between the building and the furniture, and the cantilevered outdoor table. Glass has been used extensively in the area to ensure that the interior of the building can enjoy the sea view without obstacles. The Blue Bottle Coffee café sees a variety of seating areas, from more shaded sections to nooks with sofas and lounge chairs. © superfuture