GRND Coffee Cafe by Fahad Alhumaidi and Noura Alshammari is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2020 Silver A' Design Award in Interior Space and Exhibition Design Competition Category.
SilverInterior· 2020
GRND Coffee Cafe
by Fahad Alhumaidi and Noura Alshammari
Client: Fikrr Architects
Silver A' Design Award Winner in Interior Category
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #93878The Design
About GRND Coffee Cafe
GRND Coffee is a cafe interior designed within a space of 30 square metres. The old building has weak partition walls, so a separate steel structure was added to act as an envelope. The envelope is finished with oak wood in a herringbone pattern with brass dividers. Brass spacers repeat the pattern in the polished terrazzo floor. Marble surfaces and polished brass inserts are combined with industrial elements. Instead of standard tables and chairs, a row of upholstered benches runs along one wall. Small, lightweight tables can be moved to suit each guest.
The Recognition
About the Silver A' Design Award
GRND Coffee Cafe is a Silver A' Design Award winner, an extraordinarily prestigious recognition granted to top-of-the-line, gorgeous, and impressive designs. Silver winners are tremendously brilliant and exceedingly creative works that illustrate the outstanding expertise, talent, and acuity of their designers. GRND Coffee Cafe is expected to be a wonderful, showpiece work that is remarkably professional and profoundly innovative. This Silver A' Design Award-winning design is a highly notable, admired invention that benefits and advances the boundaries of art, science, design, and technology. GRND Coffee Cafe is a vastly envied creation that evokes desires, introduces positive feelings, and sparks amazement and wonderment.
Where to Get It
Award-Winning Interior Architecture Services
We transform challenging spaces into exceptional environments. Our expertise spans boutique cafes to luxury hotels, with a focus on innovative solutions that maximize functionality while creating memorable experiences. From concept to completion, we deliver projects that elevate your brand.
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Grand Interview
Your innovative approach to maximizing the 30-square-meter space in GRND Coffee Cafe through the use of moveable furniture and upholstered benches is remarkable - could you elaborate on how this flexible design solution enhances the customer experience?
Our goal was to make the space work harder than its size suggests. Every element was designed to serve multiple functions, creating a café experience that feels open, dynamic, and comfortable despite the limited footprint.
The integration of oak wood in a herringbone pattern with brass dividers in GRND Coffee Cafe creates a striking visual harmony - what inspired this specific material combination, and how does it reflect the cafe's identity?
The material palette was inspired by the balance between warmth and sophistication. Oak wood in a herringbone pattern adds texture, craftsmanship, and a sense of timelessness, while the brass dividers introduce a refined contemporary accent.Together, these materials reflect GRND Coffee Cafe's identity modern, welcoming, and detail-oriented—creating a memorable space that feels both elegant and comfortable.
Given the structural challenges you faced with the old building's weak walls, how did the development of GRND Coffee Cafe's separate steel structure envelope influence your overall design philosophy and approach to adaptive reuse?
The existing building's walls were structurally weak and unable to support additional loads, which led us to develop an independent steel structure. Rather than seeing this as a limitation, we used it as an opportunity to create a flexible architectural framework that defines the space without relying on the original structure.This approach reflects our philosophy toward adaptive reuse respecting the existing building while introducing contemporary interventions that enhance functionality, longevity, and spatial character. The steel structure became both a technical solution and a key design feature that contributes to the café's identity.
Behind the Design
Press Kit
Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.
- Unique Properties
- In order to separate the cafe from the old building weak wall structure, we created a separate steel structure works as an envelope finished with oak wood in a herringbone pattern with brass dividers, echoed by brass spacers in the polished terrazzo floor. To maximize the 30 square metre space, rather than tables and chairs, we provided a row of upholstered benches along one wall accompanied by small, lightweight tables that can be easily moved to suit patrons’ needs.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- 30 square metre space, Marble surfaces and polished brass inserts meld with industrial elements, oak wood in a herringbone pattern with brass dividers, echoed by brass spacers in the polished terrazzo floor.
- Tags
- cafe, retail design, speciality coffee, small space
- Production Technology
- In order to separate the cafe from the old building weak wall structure, we created a separate steel structure works as an envelope
- Design Challenge
- working with old building existing structure with very weak wall partition separating the different retail spaces.we created a separate steel structure works as an envelope to accommodate our design.
- Inspiration
- “Our journey to GRND Coffee Co started seven years ago with a bag of single origin coffee, a blade grinder, and a French press,” say the clients. “Fueled by curiosity and a love of coffee, Coffee machines was intently left exposed to reflect the client story.
- Project Duration
- Start March 2019 and completed on May 2019
- Operation Flow
- cafe
- Patents
- fikrr.com
- Team Members
- Architect: Fahad AlHumaidi
Interior Design: Noura Alshammari - Image Credits
- NGPhoto
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