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Architects: NAAW
- Year: 2024
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Photographs:Luke Hayes
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Manufacturers: Grown Bio
“Building with Mushrooms: Broche Coffee Shop” - Our latest project, Broche, is a compact coffee shop nestled at an intersection in one of Oxford’s historic residential neighborhoods. Given the neighborhood’s protected status, our goal was to refresh this understated corner, making it both inviting and comfortable while respecting its context.
The project’s small scale presented both challenges and opportunities for innovation, which we embraced. We chose to incorporate a material new to us: mycelium panels, which we recently encountered at the Venice Biennale and recognized for their sustainability. The panels, with their soft beige texture, offer a unique warmth. We applied them to the interior walls above the kitchen counter and crafted mushroom-inspired tabletops and street lamps from the same material. For this, we collaborated with Grown Bio from the Netherlands, known for their work on the renowned Growing Pavilion at Dutch Design Week 2019.
Externally, we made minimal but impactful changes. The original windows were replaced with sliding wooden ones, framed with wide casings to facilitate takeaway service. We enhanced the adjacent public space with clinker tiles that complement the surrounding terracotta brick facades and added benches and three coffee tables, creating a cozy spot at the busy pedestrian intersection. The facade and original porch were painted in a warm, calm beige to harmonize with the mycelium.
In this project, we aimed to showcase mycelium not just as a temporary exhibit but as a viable material for functional and aesthetic use in public design. The coffee shop owners also prioritize sustainability, choosing biodegradable packaging and cups.
