The Bank, Starbucks Lab in Amsterdam by Liz Muller

This bank vault in Amsterdam has been converted to a coffee shop – and although you might recognise the brand’s name, we guarantee you will impress this interior. It is a concept store that they are calling the New Coffee Experience Laboratory. Design director Liz Muller assembled a team of local artists and craftsmen to create features that include repurposed oak furniture, antique Delft tiles and wall coverings fashioned from the recycled inner tubes of old bicycle tyres.

Approximately 35 artists and craftsmen were commissioned to add creative touches to the 4,500-square-foot multilevel space, known as “The Bank”, and the design shows a level of respect towards the history of the borrowed architecture, retaining a number of the building’s original features, including exposed concrete from the vault itself, and the banks 1920s marble floor; yet the store’s finished look is almost theatrical, with the baristas situated at viewable points from all around the multi-tiered space, and doubling as stages for cultural events such as poetry readings and performances by local bands.

And while all the design and constructions adheres to strict Leed® sustainable building guidelines to reduce the impact on the environment, the designers have gone out of their way to integrate repurposed design. In addition to reclaiming the vault’s exposed concrete and 1920s marble floor, the entire shop is kitted out in repurposed Dutch oak – the benches, the tables and the undulating ceiling relief made from 1,876 pieces of individually-cut blocks. Also a radical departure from Starbucks house style are the various types of chairs and stools, reclaimed from local schools and spruced up.

Source : CoffeeGeek