Blue Bottle Coffee

To create a fair relationship between all the presents, Schemata Architects adjusted details to suit everybody’s eye level at the same height in a new cafe nearby Shinjuku Station.

The new cafe designed by Jo Nagasaka / Schemata Architects is located on the ground floor of a newly opened commercial facility connected to Shinjuku Station. Schemata intended to create a fair relationship between all people present: “hosts” and “guests” mixing with each other, people waiting in line, seated and standing customers; staff working at the casher; ballista brewing coffee inside the counter and others. 

Schemata Architects, Blue Bottle Coffee, Tokyo

First, they carefully adjusted details to suit everybody’s eye level at the same height; then placed a hollow-square counter in the center, where multiple layers of people overlap each other. Furniture height is set below the waist height to keep out of sight; and floor and ceiling are finished with the same materials as the common area, in order to extend the space beyond the lease line and create a cafe that serves the entire facility. 
The new Blue Bottle Coffee counter stands here in the light-filled urban square.  

Schemata Architects, Blue Bottle Coffee, Tokyo
Schemata Architects, Blue Bottle Coffee, Tokyo
Schemata Architects, Blue Bottle Coffee, Tokyo
Schemata Architects, Blue Bottle Coffee, Tokyo
Schemata Architects, Blue Bottle Coffee, Tokyo
Schemata Architects, Blue Bottle Coffee, Tokyo
Schemata Architects, Blue Bottle Coffee, Tokyo
Schemata Architects, Blue Bottle Coffee, Tokyo


Blue Bottle Coffee 
Shinjyuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Design: Jo Nagasaka / Schemata Architects
Project team: Ryosuke Yamamoto
Construction: Tank
Collaboration: Soup Design (signage), Hoshizaki Electric Co., Ltd (kitchen), Whitelight Ltd. (sound), 1LUX (lighting design)