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STARBUCKS RESERVE ROASTERY AND TASTING ROOM
Seattle, Washington, USA | 2014
Designer of Record: Starbucks Corp.
Principal Designer: Liz Muller, Vice President of Creative and Global Design, Starbucks Corp.
Design Team: Andre Kim, Jill Enomoto, Lauren Sprinz, Stephen Gibson, Tim Salgado, Al Ward, Anthony Esposito, and Polina Carlson
Architect of Record: Graham Baba Architects
Client: Starbucks Corp.
Development Manager: Seneca Group
General Contractor: JTM Construction
Structural Engineers: MA Wright, LLC
MEP Engineers: Arup
Civil Engineers: Springline Design, LLC
Building Envelope Specialists: RDH Building Sciences Inc.
Photographers: Courtesy of Starbucks Corp.
To highlight the bold array of Reserve coffees served in this store, Starbucks local in-house design team created a truly immersive experience that allows customers to explore the theater of roasting first hand featuring locally sourced materials and artwork and merchandise from Washington's favorite artisans.
The building dates back to 1920, which was originally part of the historic "Auto Row" of Seattle. Starbucks restored it back to its original façade working to reclaim many of the original building's materials, including wood in the decorative ceiling and original Terrazzo and concrete flooring - 95% of the materials and finished pieces used for the Roastery are made in America.
Starbucks restored the building’s façade and reclaimed many of the original materials including wood from the decorative ceiling and the original Terrazzo and concrete flooring. Inside, significant infrastructure was put in place to support the massive coffee roasters.
About 95 percent of the Roastery’s materials and finished pieces such as tables, chairs and lamps were made in America. Other unique design features include: wood beams at the entrance that are cut at an angle and stained, reminiscent of coffee stir sticks; a Solari board with mechanical flaps displaying the coffee being roasted and the name of the partner (employee) who is roasting it; a baluster of hand-bent wood mimicking the pattern created when coffee is raked during the drying cycle on a farm; and a Coffee Passion Projection Wall made of smart glass, displaying images and video from Starbucks coffee farm in Costa Rica.
Freshly roasted beans are delivered to a whole bean scooping table or a custom made bar where baristas will brew handcrafted beverages on one of six brewing methods including: Pour Over, Chemex, French Press, Siphon, Espresso and Clover-brewed coffee.
The Roastery integrates digital innovation into the experience including a "Clacker" board with mechanical flaps displaying what's roasting and by whom; a Coffee Passion Projection Wall made of smart glass displaying images of coffee at origin on the company's own farm in Costa Rica; and in the coming year, will debut iBeacon technology that allows customers to access information about freshly brewed coffee via their smart phone.
The Roastery appeals to all the senses for customers, whether they know little about how coffee is grown or are discerning specialists with knowledge of different brewing methods.
