Imagine a combination of a café, a reading room, a bookstore and a coffee roasting company all located in a refurbished former milk bar.

The idea to create a place that would meet various needs of book lovers and coffee enthusiasts was a consequence of bringing together owners' professional passion (for books) and memories of exotic (African) childhood.

The café is located at the Ratajskiego square, an historical spot in Poznan. There one can find two historic tenement houses from the end of the 19th century with red clinker brick facades in the neo-renaissance style.

Kahawa project, designed and conducted by Atelier Starzak Strebicki, divided the space into three zones that clearly illustrate this multifunctional concept.

The entire structure is divided into three zones based on the multiple functions: café, reading room, bookstore and coffee roasting company

The first zone, right at the front, is an inclusive space crowned with a high concrete ceiling, including a bar, a café and a bookstore mounted on the podium.

The first zone defines various possible modes of using the space, in passing, for a while or for quite a while.

Light wooden barstools lining up against a long window sill, comfortable 366 armchairs, paired with low coffee tables and soft pillows thrown onto the stairs of the wooden podium.

Revamped iconic models of the 366 armchair by Józef Chierowski were used; one of the most popular pieces of Polish mid-century furniture employing a minimalist design and lightweight wooden construction

The second area, located at the back and equipped with a large wooden table surrounded with upholstered chairs is dedicated both to collective feasting and working. You can feel it with your feet when the original terrazzo gives way to original teak floor

The entrance to this part of Kahawa is inscribed on the floor.

The patches are necessary supplements made from new ash wood planks.

The third zone spreads behind a glass wall that enables guests sitting behind the table to peek into Kahawa's heart, where the coffee is roasted and packed.

The black shiny roasting machine is set against the white walls unashamedly revealing their brick structure.

Frugal and unobtrusive tones, natural materials and lots of light constitute a frame for the truly live colours that are brought by potted plants, books and their coffee-loving readers.

This tendency to uncover original layers and textures, to preserve what is most beautiful in geometry of walls and floors informs the core idea of the project.