We talked about Blue Bottle’s recent arrival in Tokyo in a previous post, bringing its lauded coffee expertise to a one of the planet’s most discerning markets. But while the company set up its first café Annex Roastery, preparations for a second outpost in Aoyama, a leafy shopping district across town, were already in full swing. Situated right above the well-known Zucca Boutique, it has now opened its 189 sqm. [2,034 sq.ft.] premises to eager shoppers in the neighbourhood. Architect Jo Nagasaka of Tokyo-based Schemata Architects once again designed the interior, presenting a similar minimalist palette that ingeniously incorporates the building’s concrete shell.

A full-fledged service station and sales counter is situated in the corner, opposite the entrance and rows of floor-to-ceiling windows that allow in floods of daylight. Further emphasizing the minimalist focus of the interior design are the selected furnishings: an elongated communal table is paired with stools, and an adjacent seating arrangement consists of smaller tables and an area filled with boxy ottomans. Wooden flooring near the entrance aims to balance the austerity, and this particular section – catering to the coffee-to-go crowd – is furnished with matching circular benches and displays.

Design: Schemata Architects / Jo Nagasaka
Photography: Takumi Ota

via Superfuture