Arabica Riyadh Roastery Cafetería by Jun Watanabe

Arabica Riyadh Roastery Cafetería by Jun Watanabe is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 A' Design Award de Platino in Deseño de Espazos Interiores e de Exposición Competition Category.

PlatinoInteriorismo· 2025

Arabica Riyadh Roastery Cafetería

by Jun Watanabe

Client: no.10, NOMURA Co., Ltd.

A' Design Award de Platino Winner in Interiorismo Category

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Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #163450

View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Arabica Riyadh Roastery Cafetería

Arabica Riyadh Roastery é unha cafetería de estilo teatral situada nun almacén renovado duns 885 metros cadrados en dous andares. Unha gran máquina tostadora feita a medida érguese sobre un escenario na parte traseira do local, enmarcada por unha adega de grans. O mostrador da cociña sitúase onde estaría o foso da orquestra, e o atrio superior deixa que os sons dos baristas se propaguen polo espazo. O chan está rebaixado diante do escenario, mentres que os asentos do nivel superior ofrecen vistas desde arriba. O mármore artificial branco, o ladrillo, o metal perforado e as superficies pintadas engaden textura, e unhas cortinas translúcidas dividen os asentos de palco.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award de Platino

Arabica Riyadh Roastery Cafetería gañou o A' Design Award de Platino, un recoñecemento extremadamente prestixioso outorgado a deseños verdadeiramente excepcionais, elegantes e magníficos. Os gañadores Platino son marabillas da creación, testemuños dos límites da creatividade intelectual, e demostran o profesionalismo inigualable e o xenio dos seus deseñadores. Espérase que estes deseños sexan as obras máis renomeadas, que definen a estética dunha época, contribúen ao benestar da sociedade e fan avanzar os límites da arte, a ciencia, o deseño e a tecnoloxía. Arabica Riyadh Roastery Cafetería exhibe un nivel de excelencia transcendente e fai do mundo, sen ningunha dúbida, un lugar mellor coas súas características vantaxosas e valiosas. Arabica Riyadh Roastery Cafetería é unha obra gañadora do A' Design Award de Platino que esperta desexos, inspira, emociona, deleita e desprega unha gran alegría.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: Like a theatre, the floor is lowered in front of the stage, with upper-level seating around it, so that the main stage can be seen from most seats. The store offers a variety of spatial experiences, with varying ceiling heights, including a low, calm seating area and an open atrium. The entrance staircase is designed at a height that allows the stage to be seen from the outside, as in a theatre, to heighten the sense of anticipation and attract customers.
Dimensions & Packaging: Store area 885 sqm with 2 floors.
Ground floor ceiling height: 2650mm.
First-floor ceiling height: 2450mm.
Atrium ceiling height: 6500mm
Tags: cafe, coffeeshop, Japanese, Japan, no__10, nomurakougeisha, ARABICA
Production Technology: While unified in white, the color of ARABICA’s stores, the space expresses a deep white by providing variations in texture, such as artificial marble, brick, perforated metal, and flat painted surfaces. The floor is made of top-coated epoxy resin to achieve a clean, white, seamless floor. Indirect lighting was added to the ceiling in the atrium through perforated metal to create a top-light-like illumination.
Design Challenge: The process of determining the viewpoints of each seating area was difficult. After verifying how the main stage would be presented from each seating area through drawings and renderings, the seating layout and the viewpoint height from each seat were determined. We also controlled the visibility inside and outside the store through the height difference by creating a staircase at the entrance and lowering only the area around the kitchen counter.
Research: In order to make the cafe comfortable for Saudi Arabian people, we visited various local cafes and restaurants for research. Also, we interviewed franchise owners about the Saudi people and local culture. Based on the information obtained, we installed sheer curtains that take into account the distance between men and women, furniture shapes that make it easy to sit on, even in ethnic dress, and mirrors for personal grooming.
Inspiration: The store is a theatre-style cafe in a renovated warehouse of approx. 900 square meters, with a custom-built giant roasting machine as the star attraction. The roasting machine is placed on a stage at the back of the store, surrounded by ARABICA’s iconic bean cellar. A kitchen counter is installed in the position of the orchestra pit, and the atrium above allows the pleasant sound of the barista to echo throughout the store. Visitors can enjoy the story of making coffee with all five senses.
Project Duration: The project started with a site visit to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in April 2019. The design phase started immediately and was completed in November of the same year. Construction work started in October 2019 and was completed in May 2022. (It took a long time because of the Corona disaster.) The Store opened in May 2022.
Operation Flow: Variety of seats are available for various ways of enjoyment. Bench seats where you can watch the barista's performance right in front of you. Box seats on the ground floor where you can see the kitchen and the stage up close. On the first floor, box seats and counter seats are available for a bird's-eye view of the stage and kitchen. Seats for four near the window offers a cozy atmosphere with the sounds of the kitchen as background music.
Patents: Copyrights: NOMURA Co., Ltd.
Team Members: Creative Director：Keita Aono
Designer：Jun Watanabe