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Design Details: Land and Sea at Seven Island Coffee in Busan

Seven Island Coffee 7

Welcome to Design Details, an ongoing editorial feature in Daily Coffee News focused on individual examples of coffee shop architecture, interior design, packaging design or branding. If you are a coffee shop owner, designer or architect and would like to submit your project for consideration, reach our editors here.

Design Details: Seven Island Coffee

  • Project: Seven Island Coffee (Instagram)
  • Location: Gadeokhaean-ro, Busan, South Korea
  • Size (interior): 1,467 square meters (15,793 square feet)
  • Opened: 2024
  • Design firm: mttb (South Korea)
  • Designers: Dohan Kim, Chaeyoon Cho
  • BX Design: VIW Design, Daniel Kim
  • Photographs: Yongjoon Choi

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Located on Gadeokdo Island off the south coast of Busan, South Korea, a cafe complex called Seven Island Coffee recently opened, reflecting other small surrounding islands.

According to mttb, the South Korean firm that led the design, the project resulted in seven connected buildings, each arranged on different axes to face additional small islands, allowing for different visual landscapes and spatial experiences.

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“While the ocean views from each building vary, the space aims to capture the story of the island — which offers spaces for relaxation, unknown areas brimming with fascinating wonders, tranquil spots for contemplation, and gathering places [where] various people exist,” the firm said in a project description shared with DCN.

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Buildings within the network span three floors, while a connected light-colored second floor was designed to create the impression of floating atop the sea. In contrast, the dark-colored first floor represents the part of the island below the water’s surface.

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The combined three-dimensional effect creates a “contrast between light and shadow, exterior and interior,” mttb said.

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