Elephant Grounds Coffee Shop, Hong Kong, China
Located opposite a small public plaza, the café’s design, by newly founded studio JJA/Bespoke Architecture, maximises the café’s coveted corner site using a glass and metal façade that - at the touch of a button - can be raised, allowing timber window benches to be used from the inside or outside.
Cosy, unpretentious interiors offer a refreshing departure from the generic Scandi-meets-industrial-loft style that proliferates across the city.
A rich warm timber material palette is embellished with a custom-made lush moss wall installation by local plant artist Quest Terrarium; understated handcrafted furniture by Start from Zero; and sculptural black metal pendant lamps designed by Portland-based brand Schoolhouse Electric.
‘I've also always wanted to diminish the formal line of the back-of-house versus front-of-house by designing a low coffee bar to make it feel like you are being served at someone’s own kitchen at home,’ says designer JJ Acuna.