The new Starbucks Reserve Roastery in New York is not a simple café, but a workshop and a stage, where you can embark on a knowledge journey about coffee
Starbucks has a long history in the city of New York. The first store opened on Broadway in 1994. 25 years later, there are 350 cafés across the city’s five boroughs, employing 5,000 people.
The new Reserve Roastery continues this unstoppable path. Spread across over 2,000 square meters, the new NYC Starbucks includes various café areas, a counter where it is possible to buy roasted coffee beans, an area dedicated to the Princi bakery and the Arriviamo cocktail bar on the mezzanine. The roaster is the heart of the project, which best interprets the aesthetics of a well-set space in the context of the Meatpacking District, with its industrial style, the abundance of copper and wood.
The concept was overseen by Liz Muller, chief design officer and senior vice president of Starbucks, who collaborated with Brooklyn artists and designers to “chisel the details” of an enterprise aimed to involve and fascinate the city.
The three level space scenically celebrates the “liturgy” of coffee, from the coffee bean to the cup. There are many functional features that make such a large (and spacious) environment more livable: the coffered ceiling, inspired by the grid of New York blocks, for example, is not a mere aesthetic detail, but a refined sound-absorbing system that controls the acoustics even at full capacity.
Customers are welcomed by hundreds of custom-made walnut chairs by Bassamfellows, accompanying numerous coffee tables and a wood-burning fireplace. Lamps are in hand-bent metal by Studio Snowpuppe and Marc de Groot. According to Liz Muller, “it’s beautiful furniture with a classic yet modern American style – and also sturdy”.
[Text Luisa Castiglioni – Photo Matt Glac]
This article was published in DDN#248. Discover the latest issue and the special section dedicated to New York.
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