UK interior design and architecture practice SHH covers commercial, hospitality and residential sectors in the UK and globally, with its latest project being in Saudi Arabia.
The flagship Sipside Café in Jeddah combines industrial chic and youthful style for the coffee brand, which is a new start-up in the vibrant coastal city.
As we’ve heard from the design world, speciality coffee shops are in the vanguard of Saudi Arabia’s burgeoning, contemporary coffee scene – one that provides an alternative to the country’s centuries-old Arabic coffee culture. These new café ‘destinations’, part of an increasingly visible third-wave coffee movement, appeal to a younger customer base in particular.
Meeting the brief
SHH delivered a modern and welcoming space by creating associations to the café’s branding, designed by London-based creative agency Klinical, and its coastal location.
The brief was to create a café and local hub where young professionals could meet, work and socialise during the day, and which could then seamlessly transition to an evening venue, opening right through into the early morning hours. Retail space was to be integrated into the space, stocking Sipside’s own-brand products and merchandise alongside specialist coffee equipment.
Spiral staircase
The building’s raw architecture along with its double-height glazed façade create an airy, light and functional venue, ideal for round-the-clock socialising. Inside, the generous height has been given a human scale through the introduction of low-hanging pendant lights in different sizes, suspended at various heights from the seven-metre ceiling. A steel spiral staircase leads to the mezzanine area where there is a business bubble for hosting private meetings and functions.
The ground floor hosts the main seating area and is the social hub. Opportunities for flexible working are created through the integration of power sockets and USB chargers into tabletops.
Tall, metal-framed screens and open shelving create permeable space divisions, define circulation paths, and house display and storage for the retail element of the flagship. Seating areas are zoned by geometric floor patterns and accommodate different group sizes alongside bespoke bench tables with stools for those wanting to work independently from a laptop. A stepped platform accommodates a stage for a programme of ad hoc music events during the evening.
Natural timber
The material palette utilises raw render for the walls with grey porcelain alongside terrazzo tiles for the floor. The brand colours of powder blue and midnight blue are introduced as highlights throughout the space. A layer of warmth is added with the use of natural timber and cognac-coloured leather. Extensive planting with low watering and maintenance requirements are distributed throughout to provide freshness.
Abi Stuart, SHH Commercial Director, says “Sipside’s flagship store marks the start of a series of coffee places, all in waterside locations like this one in Jeddah. The new double height space offers a fresh new destination for the city’s inhabitants to work and play in, day and night.”
