Starbucks Reserve® Roastery; New York, New York

Located in New York’s Meatpacking District, the new Starbucks Reserve® Roastery showcases key elements of the bean-to-cup journey. The design intent focused on the customer experiences inherent in the exploration of developing an understanding of the art and science that goes into cultivating, roasting, serving and enjoying coffee.

Starbucks designers retained Zahner to help them explore how to use natural metal finishes in a way to heighten experiences for their customers as they explored a new concept of flagship store. The exploration involved using actual coffee beans to apply the chemicals to the activated surface of the copper sheets. However, as the design evolved, the aesthetic focused on the use of Dirty Penny Copper patina.

The hammer textured surfaces alludes to the coffee beans being used in the preparation of beverages throughout the store.

Zahner supplied 1,200 visible square feet of custom-formed and patinated copper panels for the project. The copper forms are both sculptural as well as functional thereby creating art forms that reinforce commercial activities as the texture of the copper surfaces draws the watchful eyes of the customers and staff alike to points of interest with the Reserve® Roastery.