A premium Italian coffee machines retailer Vetti Café came to PLAN aiming to give their showroom a new look. PLAN took the client back to its roots where the business started 13 years ago. Centered around the brand spirit of the Italian coffee machine, La Marzocco, it offers attention to handcraft details and holistic coffee solution to all its business customers.

PLAN took the cue and started crafting the design strategy for the flagship store. Vetti’s core business model is B2B, PLAN understands that the boutique coffee stores’ owners whom Vetti interfaces with care not only about the high quality of merchandise but also the lifestyle conveys through the brand. Thereby, PLAN created an overall experience journey for the store visitors.

Besides functioning as a showroom, the flagship store also integrates training venue to educate buyers and runs a coffee shop for regular customers. PLAN’s design offers a platform for the store goers to experience everything from coffee roasting, coffee sipping, to idea exchanging with baristas. PLAN does not limit the display to merchandise shown on the shelves; coffee culture exhibits at every corner of the space.

The central island provides a share coffee table for customers’ gathering. On the same island, to one end, the premium Italian coffee machines are placed where they can be closely appreciated. The inherent bold colors on the machines further become decorative elements in the space.

Behind the table, we install a 15-foot-high open shelf to showcase all the goods the business sells, ranging from T-shirts, hats and manual coffee makers. Without adding more materials in the space, the textures come with products naturally enrich the space. By the same approach, the wall-covering along the raw-iron staircase leading to the second floor is recycled chipboard from the shipping containers for coffee machines from Italy.

Looking up to 20-foot-high ceiling, what populate the air are 40+ Edison light bulbs hung in various heights. Dim lights emitted from them provide customers more intimate scale and warmth despite extreme openness of the space.

The backdrop of the entire is a continuous brown glass panel wall mounted at the 2nd floor height with indirect lighting diffusing from the bottom. Doing so, we further add more layers to the space, thus more lighting effects can be created to suit various events held in the store.