Brick-like tiles with a volcanic ash glaze created by Formafantasma and textured concrete walls feature in this coffee shop in Shibuya, Tokyo, by Japanese studio Keiji Ashizawa Design.
Located a short walk from Tokyo's busy downtown area, this Blue Bottle Coffee outpost was conceived as an urban retreat sandwiched between two parks.
It serves coffee during the day and appetisers and natural wine in the evenings.
Brown tiles with a volcanic ash glaze feature throughout the interior of Blue Bottle Coffee Shibuya
Keiji Ashizawa Design, which also designed the coffee brand's Yokohama outpost, wanted to create a warm and welcoming interior that brought the park surroundings into the glass-walled and concrete-floored space.
"It was a challenge to come up with a playful interior plan in this square two-storey building," Ashizawa told Dezeen. "The other challenge was to make links between the first and second floors, and the exterior and interior."
Counter seating runs along the wall of windows
To bring the outside in, the studio installed a large, curved tile counter that wraps around the cafe's kitchen area and welcomes customers as they enter.
The brown tiles ? developed as a collaboration between London material manufacturer Dzek, and the Amsterdam-based design studio Formafantasma ? are finished with a special volcanic ash glaze.
A single artisan laid all 7,000 tiles in the interior
A single skilled artisan laid more than 7,000 of the tiles in the cafe. As...