After one of the directors of Seattle Coffee Company visited the Red Bull head o where COA – Craft of Architecture had recently finished a new brand architectu outfit , he was so impressed by the striking finishes and interesting features in their space , that he approached COA to overhaul Seattle Coffee Company ’ s inte design . We chatted to Ian Gray , COA Partner and Barry Parker , Seattle Director , get the inside scoop on the project . Photographs by Frank Wendorff .
rebrand
What was the brief ? The original Seattle Coffee Company stores in the UK and South Africa featured large Mark Rothko graphics and bright chunky colours on the walls . This had suited the 90 ’ s aesthetic , but Barry felt they needed to embrace a neutral palette , with a more modern and contemporary look . Seattle envisaged that the points of colour , the accents and the movement in these spaces was to come from the baristas and customers themselves .
Since Seattle Coffee Company cafes are self-service and there are no waitresses , the interior design needed to show customers intuitively where to place their order and where to pick up their coffee , without having to resort to loud signs to communicate this . Each store needed to have the