Karaköy Café
A 140 m² coffee shop in Karaköy's historic streets. Raw materials, a warm atmosphere and a space that transforms through the day.
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In the historic fabric of Karaköy, this 140 m² café set across two floors of an old shop was designed as a warm meeting point that reflects the character of the district. The client wanted a flexible space focused on third-wave coffee, able to answer different needs from morning to evening. Our design approach was built on turning the small scale of the space into an advantage.
The ground floor was composed around the bar, the heart of the coffee experience. An open bar counter was designed as a centre that displays the barista at work and eases conversation with the customer. This floor offers standing areas for those who want a quick coffee and high-stool seating by the window. This layout, serving the busy pace of the morning, calms through the day.
The upper floor was given to guests who want to stay longer. Designed for working, reading or meeting friends, this area offers softer seating groups, window edges that catch natural light and a calm atmosphere. The differing characters of the two floors let the café answer different needs through the day.
In the choice of materials we preferred a raw, honest palette. Exposed brick walls, micro-cement flooring, natural timber and black metal details create a warm but unshowy atmosphere in harmony with Karaköy's industrial past. The building's original elements — old ceiling beams, fragments of stone wall — were restored and made part of the design.
The lighting was composed to suit the café's atmosphere as it shifts through the day. The wide windows that maximise daylight give way in the evening to warm, low light. The bespoke pendants above the bar were designed both as functional lighting and as the visual focus of the space.
In a small-scale project every detail carries great weight. Storage, service flow and customer circulation were planned to use the limited square metres as efficiently as possible. The back-of-bar layout was designed so the barista achieves the highest output with the least movement.
Over a fast four-month design and build, we brought the café to opening readiness. The bar counter, the seating units on the upper floor and the window-edge counters were made in our own workshop. Karaköy Café shows how a small space can become a memorable experience with a strong concept and the right details.