Blue Bottle Coffee Shanghai is a minimal space located in Shanghai, China, designed by Schemata Architects. This development began in response to the fact that the face-to-face customer experience was becoming increasingly difficult due to the COVID – 19 pandemic, and measures for indirect customer service were needed. The design was inspired by the image of a beehive. Until recently, it was important to always place the counter in front of the entrance to welcome people, but unfortunately, it is no longer feasible. Now, the key is how to convey the warmth in an indirect way. The architects decided to basically use wood to create a mechanism that softly glows in response to the opening and closing of the door, and covered the surface with acrylic which was fro sted to let the glow gently seep out. The resulting “locker – style sales fixture” is now available at the front of the store, where one can order and buy drinks from a dedicated drink ordering terminal, and you may need to wait a little. This fixture will be used more widely in combination with such seamless sales methods.

Photography by studio FF