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LA BOTTEGA DEL CAFFÉ "Stansted Airport + Tottenham Court Road """"""""""""""""""Moodboards Barnaby Gunning Architects February 2014

"ITALIAN STYLE

Concept "Forward looking Italian glamour with the confidence and welcoming grandeur of a "Gran' Caffè" "The coffee shop market in the United Kingdom is dominated by a brown aesthetic that combines rough surfaces, wood, brick and stone with chalkboards, reclaimed lighting and artificial ageing to try and create a homely, improvised, feel.  There is a ritual to getting coffee in Italy that differs from the Anglo Saxon coffee house - drinking coffee in Italy is both social and functional, with quick consumption at the bar being typical.  The resurgence in coffee shops in the UK driven by chains like Starbucks has tended to emphasise coffee consumed at the table or taken out in cardboard cups.  "Italy is synonymous in the British mind with excellence in gastronomy and where other international cuisines are often intimidating, Italian food can be thrilling as well as approachable and comforting. But Italy is also renowned for excellence in fashion, design and manufacturing. Italian companies have a reputation for stylish innovation. The resurgence of Fiat around the cheekily stylish Fiat 500 brand is an excellent example of this. La Bottega del Caffè will bring this friendly yet fashionable attitude back to the ritual of enjoying great Italian coffee and food. "La Bottega del Caffè needs to differentiate itself from the style of its competitors and emphasise its core brand values of Italian passion and local spirit.  The freshness of the food and excellence of its coffee need to be prominent in the physical attributes of the outlets and customers should feel that when they are in a Bottega del Caffè they have momentarily been transported into a glamorous, chic Italian bar. "The materials used might combine high technology processes like 3d printing and milling, the use of composites such as glass and carbon fibre, high performance ceramics and heat formed glass with traditional durable materials such as marble, timber and steel or zinc. "

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ITALIAN MATERIALS

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AN ITALIAN RITE

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ITALIAN GLAMOUR

Store Layout "The primary element of the store layout will, like a grand Italian caffè, be the bar.  This will be clearly visible even from outside the store and the layout of seating and even the back of house areas will be considered to make the most of it. "The freshness of the prepared food on sale is a key aspect of the Bottega del Caffè so it makes sense to allow customers to see focaccia being filled and displays being replenished. The back-bar area should make a feature of this and although the individual processes (slicing of meats, preparation of fillings etc) are not particularly theatrical or glamorous, seeing the preparation of the goods is the most effective way to illustrate their freshness.  Refrigeration, proving and baking are all better handled in a back of house area along with food storage, dish washing and waste management. "Ideally the new Bottega del Caffè outlets are going to be busy, particularly during the morning rush and at lunchtime, the layout of the store needs to allow for a high rate of customers whilst avoiding confusion, and preferably whilst allowing customers time to make us pressured purchasing decisions. There are different approaches to how this is best handled, from the Pret a Manger system where sandwiches and prepared foods are in refrigerated wall displays away from the point of sale, to the Starbucks/Caffè Nero approach where the customer queues past the food offerings before placing an order. "In quieter periods, and at the end of the day, the outlet should avoid looking empty without the need to over-stock fresh food that will consequently be wasted. "Seating in the units should combine at bar consumption (this might be standing) with tables and chairs and could even include some more casual seating. All three areas should feature great Italian furniture. "

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cibo e bevande

preparazione

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caffé

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Areas inside the Shop "Choice "While they are approaching the bar, customers should be able to see the food products on sale clearly. Packaged goods and bottled drinks should all be within the customers reach when they are at the payment point and they should have a good clear view of the fresh items that are behind the bar. Where the existing regent street outlet uses the length of the bar to display first savoury and then (eventually) sweet items, the new outlets should provide more sales and payment points each stocked with the full range of produce.  At peak times, more payment points might be active, in quieter periods the inactive payment points might convert to additional bar area for consumption. "Ordering and Paying "We should not underestimate the potential number of customers in busy locations. Observation of competitors units in mainline stations and airports shows that they is the potential for more than 10 customers per minute in a decently sized outlet. Many of these customers would not be prepared to wait extensively to be served or would not return a second time if they felt that a long wait was inevitable. Starbucks style linear queuing is extremely limiting but it allows for relatively low staffing levels. Most small outlets manage a single queue with a pair of payment points at the end.  Paired queues are possible but the number of payment points is limited. The customer engages with an employee as they reach then end of the queue and once they have paid move through past the coffee machines to pick up their drink. Prêt à Manger style vertical queuing allows for a more organic queue with multiple pay points and multiple drinks preparation. "The type of food and beverage ordered and where it is being consumed may affect the tax applicable.  "Preparation "There are different timescales for the 'assembly' of an order. Pre-packaged goods and bottled drinks are immediately available where fresh food may need to be bagged up and hot drinks may take a couple of minutes. Heated foods, whether focaccia on the grill, lasagne or similar, are likely to need up to five minutes preparation and may require customer

identification at the end. Customers who have paid need to feel that they are still in contact with the team behind the bar and it helps if they are aware of the progress of their order. "Consuming "On premises consumption will be at table and at the bar.   "At bar consumption would have the benefit of keeping the customers engaged with the staff, allowing them to start eating/drinking earlier and avoiding the need for staff to seek out the customer at the end.  At bar consumption also makes it easier for staff to manage cutlery and crockery. It would be feasible to manage a lower level bar area suitable for wheelchair access as part of the overall design concept. "At table consumption is more conventional from an Anglo-Saxon perspective. Seated areas even inside the unit should have more the sensation of street side eating. There will not. E at table service, but customers will need to be able to carry their food and drink to the table and staffing allowance will need to be made to clear and maintain the seating area. "Services "W.C. Facilities on the premises should follow the design logic of the overall outlet with high quality finishes and a touch of glamour. "Secondary Functions "One of the brand goals of la Bottega del caffè is to engage with the spirit of the location, and a part of this might be by providing a forum for local activities, businesses, communities and creativity.  This might, as has been trialled in Regent Street, be by encouraging exhibitions of work produced by local artists, students etc.  "One possibility is to look for complementary locally produced goods that could be promoted alongside the food and drink of la Bottega del Caffè. These might be displayed at the point of sale or behind the bar, or could be virtual promotions such as links through to web based businesses or software/music.  Ideally these would not be food or drink related offerings as these would most probably dilute the core brand. There is potentially, a lot of management and coordination required in establishing these kind of co-promotions. "

It is worth considering that traditionally, people develop an affinity with a bar through familiarity with the people that work there. Stopping for coffee in the same location each day and being recognised by the staff is invariably more effective than any less personal marketing event. This can be hard to manage in urban locations where staff turnover can be high but small things like ensuring the staff member's name is clearly visible on their uniform and is permanent looking (embroidered, not printed) all help the customer feel comfortable in establishing a long term relationship.

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ITALIAN ABUNDANCE

Areas Outside the Shop "Signage "The Bottega del Caffè typographic brand is well suited to print and merchandise but less developed at present from the perspective of external signage. Potential customers need to be able to identify the shop quickly and from a reasonable distance. The bold typeface used in the secondary messages would appear ideal for the external signage as a label using simply the word "CAFFÈ"  to the right hand side and possibly on a projecting shop sign.  This should be combined with the signature brand to the left hand side of the fascia. The label should be back lit and could be entirely screen based. "This is particularly important for the Stansted airport unit currently under consideration.  Passengers emerging from the retail area of the airside will see the Bottega del Caffè unit directly in front of them and they need to be thinking from their first glance that this might be a great place for them to grab a coffee, something to eat and maybe something to take on board their flight.  "View into the unit "Shop frontage should prioritise transparency so that passers by can see the bar area fully and get a sense of the spirit of the shop.  Internal and external lighting should reinforce this. "

External Seating "External seating where it is possible should be exactly the same as the internal seating, the sensation should be of the exterior permeating the interior and the interior spilling into the street. """

Visual Merchandising "There are three basic principles that will underline the display of produce it the new Bottega del Caffè outlets. "1. Any customer should be able to see the full range of produce clearly whilst they are queuing and whilst they are at the point of sale. "2. Fresh produce, which will be served by staff behind the bar, should be prominent, comprehensible, well lit and kept in excellent condition. "3. Packaged produce and drink should be readily accessible by customers at the point of sale. "This can be supplemented behind the bar with further marketing material in relation to hot drinks and pricing information or brand graphics but the prime aim should be to make the product display the primary place the customer looks.

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ITALIAN SPECTACLE

MATERIALS