Richmond’s Veneziano Coffee Roasters has opened its Melbourne flagship showing the full ‘bean to cup’ process to customers while challenging the regular setup of cafes. Veneziano’s Melbourne outlet is designed by Technē Architecture + Interior Design, a well-known player in Melbourne’s hospitality scene and the team behind Brunetti Flinders Lane, Garden State Hotel, Biggie Smalls and the soon to be completed Esplanade Hotel in St Kilda.
In an industrial building, Veneziano encompasses a café within a fully operational coffee roaster and warehouse, showcasing the brand’s abilities in coffee roasting and education. Another interesting feature Technē has incorporated is the coffee servery, acting as its own ‘coffee shop’ within the café, sitting within the roasting operations.
Intended to be a design element of impact, the coffee servery also delivers a functional purpose and brings a bar-esque vibe to the café, encouraging customers to ‘sit at the counter’ akin to bars and restaurants. Steve McKeag, director at Technē Architecture + Interior Design, explains the purpose of the coffee servery, a design that comes natural to the practice with its extensive experience creating bars.
“Coffee is the business and the island servery is the catwalk; showcasing the product and the skills of international barista competitors,” he says. An island of sorts where coffees are made, the servery is positioned away from the entry and surrounding walls. The seats at the end of the servery promote natural engagement with the baristas and allow customers to experience the coffee making and cupping process up close, a component that may make its way into more cafes. Speaking more broadly on the design, McKeag says the existing style of the building and the ethos of the business which focuses on coffee acted as inspiration.
“The design mirrors the focus of the business – coffee – and exemplifies Veneziano’s brand identity.” “We have selected industrial and robust materials to complement not only the existing aesthetic but also the functional purpose of the building which is as a warehouse and roaster.
“We have played on the notion of being immersed and having a complete coffee experience in one place. There is also the celebration of the relationship between the micro roastery and warehouse,” says McKeag. Veneziano Coffee Roasters also features large double height windows to connect the space with the streetscape and the brand colours referenced in the concrete floor.
Of the opening, Veneziano Managing Director Craig Dickson said, “Our new flagship store will push the boundaries of coffee and hospitality, as a testing ground for our new products. It presents the perfect opportunity to showcase the brand as an end-to-end specialty experience for coffee lovers and those keen to learn more, there will be an increased level of access and exposure to what we do and how we do it.”
“We talk about sharing our love of specialty coffee with the community, and this space provides the perfect opportunity to do that and connect with people who care about the industry as much as we do,” he continues. Located at 16 River Street, Richmond, Veneziano offers the full immersion of the coffee development, training and manufacturing stages and includes a commercial roastery for volume batches, micro roastery for specialist batching, sampling, warehouse, distribution and retail.
