Buno Coffee Queen

Buno's brief for their Queen West location was built around a clear intention: a space designed for specialty coffee and genuine social exchange — one that draws people together and rewards the kind of unhurried conversation that good coffee invites. The architecture was asked to enforce that intent from the street in.

The exterior announces itself with a striking blue facade and considered signage — a deliberate reference to Buno's original location that reinforces brand identity before anyone steps through the door. The facade sets an expectation the interior delivers on.

Inside, the site is a narrow, linear space. Rather than work against the geometry, the design uses it: continuous horizontal planes run the full length of the room, organizing the space from entrance to rear and creating depth without tricks. Softly curved corners at the counter, the walls, and every junction where planes meet introduce a material warmth that offsets the linearity — the kind of detail that reads as considered craft rather than applied decoration. The counter is generous in width: room enough for a transaction and a conversation, which was the point.

Small spaces have no tolerance for unresolved decisions. Every centimetre in this room has a clear purpose.

The project received coverage in five major design publications — Interior Design Magazine, The Architect's Newspaper, AN Interior, Designlines, and Leibal — a breadth of recognition that reflects the precision with which the design solved a genuinely demanding brief within significant spatial constraints.

Featured on Leibal, Designlines, Interior Design, AN Interior and The Architect’s Newspaper