Architect Kengo Kuma Turns 29 Containers into a Café

The celebrated architect Kengo Kuma has recycled and assembled 29 containers in order to open a café in Taiwan. Located in the town of Hualien and stationed facing the Pacific, the structure is painted entirely in white and spans over 320 square metres.

The containers piled up are attached to Hualien Bay Mall, a shopping centre due to open at a yet-undefined point in the near future. While the café is owned by Starbucks, who owns over 40 similar types of cafés mainly in the United States, the company’s branding is nowhere to be seen. From the outside, only the emblematic green logo with its mermaid gives it away. 

The space is bathed in natural light, with numerous bay windows, creating an invisible bridge between the interior and the exterior. Through one such window on the ground floor cars and passers by can order their coffee to go.

The project is the second collaboration between the architect and Starbucks, and is sure not to be the last. The brand has announced the opening of a Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Tokyo. The design of the boutique, conceived of in order to offer an immersive experience in the café world, will also be created by the Japanese architect.