Costa Coffee was established as a brand in the UK in the 1970’s and bought by Whitbread in 1996. We were approached to assist the repositioning of the brand by emphasising its Italian heritage and make the interior more contemporary.

Cafés of this type have distinctly different benefits to their varied consumer base; from a speedy ‘coffee to go’ to ‘the third place’, a home from home area where people can dwell for a while or a have a business meeting.

Borrowing from 60’s Soho café culture, the interior palette employs dark wood formica and orange vinyl. Edge lit graphic imagery set within circular openings combine with walnut faced panels to play on Costa’s heritage, while the introduction of cast concrete ‘bean’ tiles adds texture and a unique and memorable feature. We were involved in the design of over 25 sites and the production and delivery of the design manual that has been used to develop an estate of some 250 cafés.