Seattle Coffee Company’s New Look

WORDS Amelia Brown IMAGES Frank Wendorff

Beloved coffee hub, Seattle Coffee Company, has undergone a modern brand makeover.

Craft of Architecture (COA) were approached to overhaul Seattle Coffee Company’s interior design over four years ago. The original stores in the UK and South Africa featured large Mark Rothko graphics and bright, solid wall colours, which suited a ’90s aesthetic. COA were tasked with introducing touches of the coffee’s journey through a neutral palette and more contemporary look that places the focus firmly on the baristas and customers themselves.

Seattle Coffee Company is a relatively small family-owned business, purchasing the top one percent of Direct Trade beans in the world and hand-roasting them in Cape Town. The team at COA were inspired by artisanal, bespoke, owner-run coffee shops and the street culture of international urban coffee shops. “We wanted to incorporate contrasting materials into the design, using elements such as hot-rolled steel, which strikingly contrasts with the slick marble and glass of the counters,” explains Ian Gray, one of the partners at COA involved in the redesign. “We were also inspired by the original coffee bean sacks, which come from all over the world, and integrated some of this design into the interior concept.”

Almost every element in the design was custom-made enabling Seattle’s branding to be subtly woven into the fabric of the space, like cutouts of the Seattle coffee cup for example. Ian notes how easy it was to work with the characterful heritage buildings of the Cape Town stores, pulling out the raw features such as the brickwork, beams and concrete slabs to contrast the smooth glass and marble elements.

Seattle cafés are self-service, so the interior design needed to flow and be intuitive. In every store, the espresso bar takes centre stage, drawing customers in, marking where to place orders without the necessity of avert signage, and avoiding overcrowding for busy coffee punters. From leather sofas to communal farm-kitchen tables, the seating is varied to offer options for meetings, working, people watching, or simply curling up with a book and a mug.

The Seattle refits and new store roll-outs are ongoing, which involves constantly evolving the design to keep the interior concept unique and competitive. After the successful refit and positive response to Seattle’s flagship store in Cape Town’s Cavendish Shopping Centre, 30 Seattle café’s have been revamped with more to come. Each Seattle store is treated uniquely. The new brand architecture has already made a huge impact on turnover: On average a refurb has resulted in a growth of between 30–40%, proof of the impact of good architecture and design.