Walking through the concourse of Shinagawa Station towards the Kohnan exit, one looks up at the glass-clad shopping mall above and find Blue Bottle Coffee Shinagawa Cafe, their 6th shop in Japan, behind the glass facade. The act of ?looking up? to find the place inspired James Freeman, the Founder of Blue Bottle Coffee, to imagine a ?heavenly space? for the new cafe.

© Takumi Ota

Architects: Schemata Architects

Location: Konan, Minato, Tokyo 108-0075, Japan

Architect In Charge: Jo Nagasaka / Schemata Architects

Design Team: Ryosuke Yamamoto, Liliko Mizukami

Area: 173.7 m2

Project Year: 2016

Photographs: Takumi Ota
Construction: TANK

Collaboration: ARAYA SHOTEN (stone) / SOUP DESIGN (sign) / HOSHIZAKI ELECTRIC CO.,LTD. (kitchen) / WHITELIGHT.Ltd (sound plan) / ENDO LIGHTING CORP. (lighting plan)

© Takumi Ota

From the architect. Walking through the concourse of Shinagawa Station towards the Kohnan exit, one looks up at the glass-clad shopping mall above and find Blue Bottle Coffee Shinagawa Cafe, their 6th shop in Japan, behind the glass facade. The act of ?looking up? to find the place inspired James Freeman, the Founder of Blue Bottle Coffee, to imagine a ?heavenly space? for the new cafe.

© Takumi Ota

Based on this image, we envisioned a se...