Melk Coffee Bar
Design
La Firme & Alexandre Baldwin
Realisation
2019
Photo
Ulysse Lemerise Bouchard
Awards
Grands Prix du Design, Agence PID, Grand Prix - Catégorie Design de produits en petite série mobilier commercial, Melk Café, Montréal, Canada.
Functional aesthetics
The new Melk Coffee Bar was not only a design-thinking tightrope walk between functional necessities and aesthetics, but a reminder of how much thought can go into aspects of design that people might overlook. The difficult space had to fit an existing brand and be elevated for future roll-outs. A triangular floor plan with a curved wall and space tapering to 2’ wide made for strict tolerances.
Pushing ergonomics and taking materials to heart
A production line-style layout puts sleek machines on display and the consumer path encourages browsing and employee-client interaction. Tables near the counter are raised to bar height on platforms, and benches push ergonomic limits to meet a 24-person occupancy. The aesthetic approach emphasizes the timelessness of raw materials within a limited palette.
The space’s narrowing end became the back store. Everything was uncovered--architectural details, raw concrete, plumbing and 14’ ceilings. Light paint, atypical use of ceramics, and wood provide organic accents. All of it taken together helped to open up the originally cramped space.
