This café occupies the ground floor of a former grand 19th century hotel in the Old Oakland historic district, directly below Blue Bottle Coffee’s corporate offices. Originally imagined as an impermanent or provisional café, the finishes, custom furniture, and movable elements were designed with attention to flexibility and adaptability over time. Birch plywood and stainless steel are assembled into a long open service bar and high cabinet wall with merchandise and storage, inspired by old world haberdashery displays. A custom-designed endgrain butcherblock, composed from pieces of locally hewn California redwood, marks the point on the bar where customers retrieve their beverages.

A suite of custom-designed modular furniture elements share a common architectural vocabulary, and contribute to the provisional quality of the space. Slotted sheets of white-faced birch plywood are interlocked in a variety of ways, to assemble pieces ranging from individual standing café tables to communal seated tables with accompanying stools.

In addition to the café, this project also features the coffee company’s West Coast Training Lab. A custom plywood storefront, with details that echo the design of the café itself, is a vitrine through which the training lab is put on display for café patrons. Baristas emulate service along a series of stainless steel mock café stations. A plywood high table designed specifically for cupping, with a white-board top for making tasting notes, anchors a Tasting Room that hosts sessions for both baristas-in-training and special public tasting events.

Photography: Adam Rouse