A new and innovative miniature cafe called the coffee has been designed by Studio Boscardin.Corsi Arquitetura to give busy city workers in Brasil a quick but enjoyable place to stop for their favourite beverages.
The goal of this ultra tiny cafe was to take advantage of very small urban spaces while also providing urbanites with something they want and enjoy. the coffee, a micro-cafe in Brasil, is built using ideas of space efficiency and eco-friendly materials to establish a place where baristas have what they need in minimum and arranged accessibly, letting them provide customers with their orders in record time thanks to the walk-up window style service that doesn’t even require them to stop and open doors en route to their next meeting.
In packed city centres where there is essentially no room for expansion, there is often also very limited room for new businesses. That’s why this project team decided to make full use of what tiny space does exist in the nooks and crannies of old urban architecture. They transformed a small service door that was formerly unusable, edged without grace or style between two restaurants, and turned it into a business with a lot of potential.
The design and space organization of the coffee was based on Japanese values of simplicity and minimalism. Sure, there are plenty of places that will make you a quick takeaway coffee, but this particular business takes that idea to the next level. Simply walk up to the indoor-outdoor window with your cash and leave with a coffee without even having to walk across an inner foyer!
Just in case you actually do have a moment and you want to take a seat, however, the coffee has strategically placed itself in an area that’s rich in public benches with nice city life views. It’s the ultimate example of a business integrating itself into an already-existent space.
Despite the physical space of the coffee being minimalist and leaving room only for what’s absolutely functional and necessary, the business’s facade is not lost on the street. Part of what makes it fit so well into the tiny urban space is the designers choice to visually build upwards, rather than expanding outwards. As such, the window and the signage reach high, making them visible and interesting from the sidewalk regardless of the narrow space.
Ultra modern styling also helps the business stand out from the other buildings. Designers used stark white colour schemes and light, as well as metal, wood, and acrylic, to create a space that is very well lit and visually delineated from the abundance of grey concrete and smudged glass most cities are home to.
Inside, the coffee exists in a space of only three square metres, leaving limited possibilities for a functional layout that actually provides customers with a quick, quality service. Designers were careful to place the barista’s tools and requirements just so, making sure very little movement is required. Everything is always at hand and the barista rarely even has to turn their back on the window and their customers!
Orders are placed on a tablet, meaning that customers are always in motion while they choose their beverage and wait, rather than getting caught in long lines while the barista rings up, processes, and makes their order. The barista concentrates on their tasks and the quality of their product while customers enjoy the urban space outside the coffee’s window. This renders the business more than just an innovation in architecture thanks to its unique use of small spaces; it’s also a unique experience!
Photographs by: Eduardo Macarios
