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.

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.