project: DOT Coffee Station #1

link

location: 1, Baseina st. Kyiv, (Ukraine)

area: 30.6 m²/329 ft²

completed: 2021

graphic design: PRAVDA design

photographer: Andriy Bezuglov

DOT Coffee Station #1 is a city café that is based in one of the most active neighborhoods in Kyiv and specializes in high-quality coffee drinks to go. The interior of the venue is a manifestation of modern city life. It is eclectic with a soft rhythm and an urban vibe.

The design focus is the mosaic pixel art on the wall that incorporates the dot as a pixel theme. The pixel as the starting point of every image.

We deliberately chose not to convey any hidden message in this picture, but create something weird, sincere and universal. The graphic in DOT is pure emotion. That kind of emotions that a regular metropolis inhabitant would get several times a day. The sentiment that throws them off their stride and unsettles them. Like a facepalm, but stronger. After it, you need to enjoy a coffee to recover and go forward at full speed.

THE ACCENTS IN DOT

The second accent in the interior is a narrow screen with scrolling text. It creates the dynamics and sets the rhythm. It is like the adrenaline moving through the veins of the people who just got a double espresso.

The cafe comes as a part of the city by means of its transparent facade. DOT does not have a door in its general meaning. We have replaced it with glass sliding doors that let the energy of the city seep through. We have totally opened the façade to emphasize the hospitality of the venue. Only a few steps divide a client from a desirable dose of caffeine.

The stairs and part of the wall surface inside the café are covered with white mosaic tiles with some pixel art elements. Other walls show the bare brick that emphasizes the value of the building erected in 1900.

THE HEIGHT

The height of the ceiling in DOT is 475 centimeters. We needed to get a high space filled with light, so we discarded the idea of building the mezzanine with seating places from the very beginning.

DOT

DOT Coffee Station has two little tables and a niche with a bench where a few guests can sit. Another seating place is the massive bench along with the building façade next to the café. The timber on both benches as well as on the counter is old beams that used to be elements of some barn a long time ago. It is a time-proven material that tells its own story and works as a contrast with the perfect and cold elements made of stainless steel.

The café locates in central Kyiv on the street that borders Bessarabska Square. It is a vibrant point where different dimensions of Kyiv life are crossing. In the sun-up, juicy sellers hurrying up to the biggest Kyiv roofed market Bessarabka as well as white collars running toward the shining office building nearby. In the daytime, here you can see not only a lot of foreigners who are hanging out but also some intellectual youngsters, who were standing in line at the modern art museum around the corner. In the evening there is a meeting and a pre-party place for extravagantly varied people.

– The owners of DOT Coffee Station are experienced entrepreneurs who already have a successful chain of cafes in Kyiv. They are deeply aware of the business-specific and appreciate the high quality of coffee more than anything else. Our shared value is a sustainable approach. That is how old timber beams, bare brick walls, and recyclable paper cups appeared in the venue. – Dmytro Bonesko, the cofounder of YOD Group said.