The design for Blendin Coffee Club enables the Houston-based company to expand on the Tree-to-Cup experience that is their identity. As their first ground-up project, the building seeks to provide Blendin with an enhanced presence and visibility in the city while also communicating the values of their brand. Situated on a corner lot just off the Highway 59 access road, the building mitigates between the scale of the highway to the south and the adjacent neighborhood to the north.
Public programs and gathering spaces are placed at the ground level with upper floors containing spaces focused on production and training. The first floor provides the neighborhood with a small coffee shop and retail space with a large shaded patio as well as a classroom where visitors can learn about the intricacies of roasting and brewing coffee. The second floor offers a roof deck and garden where small gatherings can take place. The top floor contains large spaces for storing and roasting coffee as well as more intimate spaces where cupping, training, and competitions occur. The design places the programs of the top floor in a long horizontal bar within the tree canopy that allows the building to be visible from the highway while also providing shade to the covered patio below.
Throughout the building, the design blurs the relationship between interior and exterior. At the ground level, the northeast and southwest corners open to the sky to create outdoor rooms within the building's envelope. Pivoting doors at these spaces allow the boundary between inside and outside to be implied or explicit depending on the desired conditions. At each level, a perforated metal skin introduces an intermediate layer between solid and transparent. This metal veil helps to mitigate between allowing natural light and views to the exterior to enter while also providing privacy where needed and reducing solar heat gain from the sun.