Text description provided by the architects. The first of several Bohlin Cywinski Jackson-designed cafes to be completed for Blue Bottle, this new 1,200-square-foot South Park location transforms the street-level storefront of a former Kohler warehouse into a light-filled, deliberately minimal interior space. The design reveals the site’s inherent beauty by stripping away the frivolous and unnecessary, elevating the most essential attributes of the architecture, such as original brick walls and heavy timber support columns, and enhancing the visible connection to the bustling SoMa streets.

Upon entering the cafe, a lattice of floating wooden boxes greets customers, creating a series of shadows and sunlight throughout the space; bags of coffee and serveware available for purchase are nestled within the framework, creating an eye-catching merchandise display. A subdued palette of warm wood, pale blue walls and concrete flooring complements the company’s branding and the craft of coffee making that is the hallmark of Blue Bottle.

Cutaway

New features include an iced coffee bar and the company’s first-ever Mavam espresso machine, which makes only the most necessary and visually appealing machinery visible to guests; other equipment integral to the company’s coffee making is incorporated into a crisp stainless steel and birch plywood bar. Patrons can sit and sip coffee on solid ash benches throughout the space, as well as banquette seating placed along the windows.

© Matthew Millman

• Architects

  Bohlin Cywinski Jackson

• Location

  2 S Park St, San Francisco, CA 94107, United States

• Category

  Coffee Shop

• Principal

  Greg Mottola, FAIA

• Project Manager

  Christopher Orsega, AIA

• Designer

  Alex Gregor

• Area

  1200.0 ft2

• Photographs

  Matthew Millman