Architizer
“In Italy, the espresso experience is more like getting a drink at a bar. All the ordering, waiting (and often the drinking) is done standing at the bar. The experience, then, is essentially having coffee at a communal table.” – Jones | Haydu, architect
Mr. Espresso’s Caffè design honored by prestigious architecture publication
We are proud to announce The Caffè by Mr. Espresso has been recognized as a finalist in the annual ArchitizerA+ Awards for Restaurants <1,000 sq. ft. Architizer celebrates the world’s best architecture and design through projects, competitions, awards, and stories, offering inspiration and tools for architects. We are thrilled that the care and intention that went into the design of The Caffè were recognized by Archetizer in this global list of finalists. Our deepest thanks to architect jones | haydu for bringing our vision to fruition.
The Caffè design was “heavily inspired by Italian culture, using minimalism and contrast” stated jones | haydu in the nomination (You will find many excerpts from the submission quoted here). They went on to say that the space serves “as an example of how our diverse cultural landscape is nourished by those eager to share their heritage with the community,” alluding to Mr. Espresso’s Di Ruocco brothers and Caffè co-owners, Luigi Di Ruocco (Sales & Marketing VP) and John Di Ruocco (Coffee VP), who were both deeply involved in the design process.
With its great oak bar, The Caffè emulates the Italian coffee experience, “the ritual of stepping into a caffè and enjoying espresso a ‘pausa’ or a pause — a moment that allows for reflection and community.” Around the bar, customers order, wait (and often drink) while standing. Mirroring the spirit of “this communal ritual…the bar is not simply linear, but sits as an island in the space.”
Even the celebrated cuisine of Italy was a touchstone: “Informed heavily by Italian cuisine, which is masterful at creating great complexity with minimal ingredients, we chose to minimize the number of materials used, and to celebrate their innate richness. Crafted from slabs of a single of a Valley Oak tree that fell in 2008…the primary bar frames nature as the focus. The perimeter of the caffè hosts a Calacatta marble ledge, a nod to Italy’s most ubiquitous, yet luscious, materials.”
“The Italian notion of contrast, ‘chiaroscuro,’ provides further inspiration…polished copper contrasts with the organic nature of wood and stone. Overhead, a wooden sculptural form is used in a diaphanous manner in contrast to the heavy stable oak bar. Overhead, a wooden sculptural form is used in a diaphanous manner in contrast to the heavy stable oak bar…From some angles it is airy (chiaro); from others it is quite solid (oscuro). Though the shapes and fabrication process are modern, it is a nod to the domes and arcades of the Renaissance and Baroque periods.”
Again, we offer great gratitude to the jones | haydu team for their perseverance and dedication to this project, overcoming countless challenges to create this stunning space. And our warm thanks to Architizer for including The Caffè as one of the top designs for 2024. Read the full nomination here.