Hot on the heels of its lavish breakthrough Milan store, Starbucks has opened yet another striking and innovatively-designed coffee house. However, Japanese architect Kengo Kuma's design associates an entirely different mood with the company's coffee beverages.
Starbucks Taiwan the company�s first location in the Asia Pacific, consists of 29 white shipping containers, shifted and stacked in a grid-like formation. Within the containers� 3,444 sqft (320 sqm) of space are a variety of intimate and comfortable spaces. A drive-thru is also incorporated into the design to maximize the store�s convenience to its customers.
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Kengo Kuma�s vision follows a current trend in Starbucks� store designs as the company has opened over 40 coffee locations in structures that utilize a shipping container as a fundamental building block.
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At a glance, the container structure looks impenetrable, but Kuma�s design utilizes a series of skylights and single pane windows to allow natural light into the structure, transforming the density and darkness of a shipping container into a pleasant habitable space to enjoy a Starbucks beverage.
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The distinct placement of the containers for the Kuma design was inspired by the Chinese bucket arch and the leaves and branches of a coffee tree. The bucket arch represents a highly organized architecture structure of stacked beams, while the coffee tree represents the natural order of organic foliage. Kuma also designed Japan�s Fukuoka Starbucks store and the highly anticipated Starbucks Reserve Roastery opening soon in Tokyo.
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Utilizing shipping containers has become a common architectural trend, typically used as a statement to highlight the importance of reducing and reusing industrial waste and materials. This project is no different. As part of Starbucks� renewed commitment to sustainable building, the storage container designs can occupy sites that may not be able to accommodate a traditional building due to the terrain or spatial limitations.
