Synonymous with its name, this no-nonsense roaster cum cafe in Melbourne, Australia, takes its coffee and interiors, seriously. Leanne Amodeo reports
March 21st, 2013
When asked to explain the design vision behind Code Black Coffee, lead designer Katherine Kemp’s response is as fuss-free as her client’s brief. “The overall design was to set the stage for a serious no-nonsense approach to coffee.” Melburnians, after all, take their beloved beverage very seriously.
Fortunately, inner-city Brunswick’s newest addition to its lively café culture is good; with coffee to match. Code Black sits neatly within Zwei’s new fitout of an existing double fronted warehouse. It’s a clever insertion that houses the coffee roaster and café in one space and the client’s headquarters in the other.
Entering the public space may take patrons past the servery but their eye is immediately drawn towards the rear, where Code Black’s impressive 20kg coffee roaster resides. Situating the roaster in full display adds an element of theatre, but most importantly it signifies the quality and craftsmanship of the cafe’s product. After all, says Kemp, “Coffee is king at Code Black.”
The interior fitout plays an important role in reinforcing this message and through the use of rich, dark tones a simple, raw aesthetic is expressed. Stained OSB, black steel and concrete complete the material palette, which lends the industrial sensibility an elegant sense of composition. The fitout allows for easy movement and the arrangement of varying dining tables and standing tables attractively and functionally orders the 700sqm space.
What is perhaps the most appealing aspect of Code Black’s design, however, is its thoughtfully considered details. Volker Haug lighting designs punctuate the warmly hued interior, steel side tables are bent and bolted to a brick wall and OSB adds an element of patterning. Zwei has been sure to invest a sense of quality and craftsmanship on both a small and large scale.
Zwei
Photography © Michael Kai
INDESIGN is on instagram
Follow @indesignlive
A searchable and comprehensive guide for specifying leading products and their suppliers
Keep up to date with the latest and greatest from our industry BFF's!
A longstanding partnership turns a historic city into a hub for emerging talent
Schneider Electric’s new range are making bulky outlets a thing of the past with the new UNICA X collection.
In this candid interview, the culinary mastermind behind Singapore’s Nouri and Appetite talks about food as an act of human connection that transcends borders and accolades, the crucial role of technology in preserving its unifying power, and finding a kindred spirit in Gaggenau’s reverence for tradition and relentless pursuit of innovation.
Gaggenau’s understated appliance fuses a carefully calibrated aesthetic of deliberate subtraction with an intuitive dynamism of culinary fluidity, unveiling a delightfully unrestricted spectrum of high-performing creativity.
Raising the profile of the replica debate, in the Sydney Morning Herald this weekend Corporate Culture’s Richard Munao went head-to-head with Managing Director Adam Drexler, who started replica furniture manufacturer Matt Blatt 10 years ago, after figuring out a loophole in Australia’s intellectual property laws. Munao founded the Authentic Design Alliance alongside 4 other furniture […]
Designed to entice people back to the office, flexible workplace provider Hub Australia have teamed up with Hassell to create Hub Flinders Street.
The town of Corowa in regional New South Wales has proven to be the ideal base for Regional Design Service – an architecture studio that delivers meaningful, sustainable design outcomes and strategies for Australia’s rural and regional communities.
The internet never sleeps! Here's the stuff you might have missed
The 2025 Sustainability Awards extends its entry period until midnight on 9 July 2025.
The 2025 INDE.Awards Shortlist showcases the very best architecture and design in our Indo-Pacific region.