Portfolio

062 – Otten Coffee Experience Bandung

(EN)

This 600-square-meter renovation project in Pasir Kaliki, Bandung, did not begin with a promising canvas, but rather from a dismal urban structure. The original facade of this former insurance building stared directly west, baked by the scorching afternoon sun without a single sheltering canopy. Behind it, the condition of the building was far from ideal: the concrete roof in the rear area leaked at multiple points, while the proportions of its front space felt cramped and flimsy, resembling a temporary roadside kiosk. Faced with these poor site conditions, design ego had to be stripped away. Instead of razing everything to the ground, we were tasked with reassembling the remnants of the existing building into a single, cohesive entity.

Our hypothesis responded to this circumstance by playing in the realm of contradiction and spatial flow. To heal the bald and sweltering facade, we assembled a cantilevered canopy that shelters three brick arches. These arches are not mere pasted-on ornaments, but an antithesis, a conscious effort to reverse the impression of a fragile, temporary building into an entity that is robust, permanent, and deeply rooted in the earth. North-south openings were optimized to ensure cross-ventilation, while wooden louvers and brick walls acted as a weather-filtering shield.

On the ground, materializing a flowing space demanded strict and precise tactics. Acknowledging the cramped front area, we instead designed a dramatic spatial sequence: visitors are welcomed by a transitional space beneath the canopy to provoke curiosity, entering through a small double-volume lobby with slanted walls, before ultimately being released into the main 36-square-meter digital-themed cafe, which feels as expansive as an inner courtyard.

Retail challenges brought their own reality checks. Large, expensive coffee machines demanded a dedicated stage. We responded by assembling the logic of an amphitheater in the center of the room: the machines are placed in the middle and arranged in tiers so they can be observed from all four sides. Through this layout, a visual dialogue is created, visitors and machines seemingly watching each other, while the supporting volume beneath it is functionally utilized as storage space.

Involving the hands of local craftsmen, six primary materials—brick, bamboo, gypsum, stone, concrete, and steel, were woven together to balance durability and artistic value. The woven bamboo interior lining was the result of a direct collaboration with craftsmen from Sumedang, embracing West Java’s locality while minimizing the demolition of still-usable aerated concrete block structures.

Completed in 2021, Otten Coffee leaves us with an honest reflection. There is an inner struggle when looking back at this project, an awareness that, at the time, our technical prowess and courage were not yet mature enough to break through the boundaries of convention and allow the bamboo material to overflow onto the exterior facade. Yet, those past limitations serve precisely as a reminder that architecture is an endless learning process. A broken structure, it turns out, is capable of being transformed into a tropical communal sanctuary, nurturing the heritage of the past, local craftsmanship, and comfort, without ever losing its grounding in the heart of the city.

(IDN)

Proyek renovasi seluas 600 meter persegi di Pasir Kaliki, Bandung ini tidak dimulai dari kanvas yang menjanjikan, melainkan dari sebuah struktur urban yang memprihatinkan. Fasad asli bekas gedung asuransi ini menatap langsung ke arah barat, terpanggang terik matahari sore tanpa satu pun kanopi peneduh. Di baliknya, kondisi bangunan jauh dari kata ideal: atap beton di area belakang bocor di berbagai titik, sementara proporsi ruang depannya terasa sempit dan ringkih, menyerupai kios temporer di pinggir jalan. Di hadapan kondisi lapangan yang buruk ini, ego desain harus ditanggalkan. Alih-alih meratakan semuanya dengan tanah, kami dituntut merakit ulang sisa-sisa bangunan eksisting menjadi satu karya yang utuh.

Hipotesis kami merespons keadaan itu dengan bermain pada ranah kontradiksi dan alur ruang. Untuk menyembuhkan fasad yang botak dan panas, kami merakit kanopi kantilever yang menaungi tiga lengkungan bata. Lengkungan ini bukan ornamen tempelan, melainkan sebuah antitesis, upaya sadar membalikkan kesan bangunan temporer yang rapuh menjadi entitas yang kokoh, permanen, dan mengakar pada bumi. Bukaan utara-selatan dioptimalkan untuk memastikan ventilasi silang, sementara kisi-kisi kayu dan dinding bata bertindak sebagai perisai penyaring cuaca.

Di lapangan, mewujudkan ruang yang mengalir menuntut siasat yang ketat dan presisi. Mengakui sempitnya area depan, kami justru merancang sekuens ruang yang dramatis: pengunjung disambut ruang transisi di bawah kanopi untuk memancing rasa penasaran, masuk melalui lobi kecil bervolume ganda dengan dinding miring, sebelum akhirnya dilepaskan ke dalam kedai utama bertema digital seluas 36 meter persegi yang lapang layaknya halaman dalam.

Tantangan retail membawa ujian realitasnya sendiri. Mesin-mesin kopi berukuran besar dan berharga mahal menuntut panggung khusus. Kami meresponsnya dengan merakit logika amfiteater di tengah ruangan: mesin diletakkan di tengah dan disusun berjenjang agar dapat diamati dari empat sisi. Lewat tata letak ini tercipta dialog visual, pengunjung dan mesin seolah saling menonton, sementara volume penyangga di bawahnya diakali secara fungsional sebagai ruang penyimpanan.

Melibatkan tangan-tangan perajin lokal, enam material utama, bata, bambu, gipsum, batu, beton, dan baja, dirajut untuk menyeimbangkan daya tahan dan nilai seni. Anyaman bambu pelapis interior adalah hasil kolaborasi langsung dengan perajin dari Sumedang, merangkul lokalitas Jawa Barat sambil meminimalkan pembongkaran struktur hebel yang masih layak pakai.

Diselesaikan pada tahun 2021, Otten Coffee menyisakan sebuah refleksi jujur bagi kami. Ada pergulatan batin ketika melihat kembali proyek ini, sebuah kesadaran bahwa pada masa itu, kepiawaian teknis dan keberanian kami belum cukup matang untuk menembus batas kebiasaan dan membawa material bambu meluap hingga ke fasad luar. Namun keterbatasan masa lalu itu justru menjadi pengingat bahwa arsitektur adalah proses belajar yang tak pernah putus. Struktur yang rusak, ternyata, sanggup diubah menjadi suaka komunal tropis, merawat warisan masa lalu, ketukangan lokal, dan kenyamanan, tanpa kehilangan pijakannya di tengah kota.