A specialty coffee shop in Komotini, Greece, offering a high-quality coffee product and handmade round sesame breads. The interior space is gently curated while oozes a warm and intimate atmosphere with retro references elevated by a calm, minimally composed palette.

Even in the short stay in the coffeeshop, the visitors can also have a rich sense of space, creating different types of experience. From one side, the entire transparent façade can be visually and practically street- faced: people sitting on the seats can face the street scene and watch the pedestrians passing by. It seems that they can forget being in a cafe, so that the visual boundary of the cafe is extended to the block, and the scale of the original architectural space is staggered and overlaps with the city. From the other side, eschewing for a while the “grab-and-go” coffee culture, the interior space can be function even for those who can enjoy a nice cup of coffee on weekdays enabling them to work in this quiet atmosphere. The equipment layout and the coffee process face outward toward the customer, inviting visual participation in the coffee-making process. The bar furniture with the wooden fine strips also reveals the preciseness and delicacy of the barista. The “to go” exclusive area allows baristas to communicate coffee culture with customers in close proximity.

Suspended wooden shelving with the cooper frames hovers the back bar to provide display of the coffee-making activities and products’ storage. The selective high- quality coffee product supported by the coffee shop is object of admiration and is exhibited in the furniture showcases that are camouflaged as a continuation of the masonry.

Custom-detailed dark green ceiling blades are dual purpose: they compress the height of the space to create intimacy and intermittently reveal long lengths of lighting. The uniqueness of the furniture with the wooden slats comes to tie in with all the copper details observed in the finishes and metal elements. The distinctive lining with mint tiles comes to create a contrast but at the same time a smooth connection with both the white color of the bakelite bench and the tables, as well as the white tone of the walls. However, the same walls eventually acquire a peculiarity that unfolds throughout the coffee shop through its coarse style with its dense coating.

Coupa Café is a visually simple, highly functional interior that invites lingering in its brightly sedate feel. All elements are considered textural and precise, in order to intentionally instil a sense of refinement and welcome.

*Coupa Café is among the winners of BIG SEE interior design awards 2021.

Valia Panagiotou

Images © Giannis Tsaklidis