-
Architects: Rama Estudio
- Area: 226 ft²
- Year: 2021
-
Photographs:JAG studio
-
Lead Architects: Carolina Rodas, Felipe Donoso, Carla Chávez
Background. Roveta, located in Torre Alianza in the north-center of the city of Quito, is a coffee lab. An unusual space that consists of a glass triangle with an area of 20m2, situated in a commercial city zone, specifically for office workers looking to taste specialty coffee.
Project. The clients saw a necessity to build a space capable of bringing to life the elaboration and commercialization of their own artisanal coffee, providing customers an environment of rest and staying with a good view of the surroundings.
Idea. Embedding a multipurpose piece of furniture that is conceived as a single piece and that does everything at the same time worked as the main idea for the place, as this furniture fulfills the function of preparation, service, and storage. Roveta’s products and the preparation bar with all its processes, including the coffee’s roasting, are showcased on the bottom floor. Roveta is planned so that a single person can perform all the necessary tasks in a single space. The mentioned piece of furniture, apart from being extremely functional, gives birth to a new perception of space, generating a series of different environments between the bottom floor, the mezzanine, and the outdoor space. The outdoor space is presented as a terrace-type area where furniture for customer service can be found such as a continuous bar that allows hand washing and serves as a support for the baristas.
The project’s fundamental principle was to work with recycled materials, which is why 6cm x 4cm recycled pine wood was used for the structure. The material was previously treated for its rigidity and durability. The construction system is based on a series of frames, joined between them through continuous planks to form a single structural element. The planks, in addition to being structural elements, serve as counters for the preparation of coffee and as storage. Roveta has a mini food forklift, which makes the mobilization of products from the preparation area to the mezzanine more practical.
