Made Us Look: This (Yes, THIS) Is a Starbucks
The world’s largest Starbucks just opened in Seattle’s Capitol Hill district, and it’s one of the most beautiful buildings we’ve ever seen. The latest trend in drink culture has been the destination brewery — this is the destination roastery. As Fast Co Design reports, the 15,000-square-foot LEED-certified factory is where Starbucks roasts its “small” batch reserve coffees (the fancy ones), but it’s not just some bland warehouse space. This coffee wonderland includes two coffee bars, a shop, a restaurant and a two-story library under its beautifully vaulted roof.
The building is the work of Dutch designer Liz Muller, the woman responsible for Starbucks’ most experimental stores like a cafe inside an Amsterdam bank vault or the full-service cafe on a Swiss train. For this project, Muller took the warehouse down to its studs, discovering white terazzo floors and a warm Douglas fir ceiling that had been painted black at some point since 1910, when the building was constructed. Rather than mask those details, she restored them and highlighted them, drawing inspiration from coffee itself in the colors and textures used. And rather than hiding what goes on behind the scenes, the manufacturing process is transparent to everybody.
It’s oversharing at its finest.
So, who’s moving into this Willy Wonka-esque factory with us? Let us know if we should save you a spot.
