Since opening its first espresso bar in Hong Kong in 2018, local coffee shop chain Coffeelin has been on a mission to enrich the city’s coffee scene with a touch of Milanese-style café culture. Launched a few months ago its latest location, Coffeelin Central, expands on the brand’s coffee-to-cocktails concept with a space that conjures the retro vibes of a Milanese bar, interpreted through the lens of Hong Kong’s cosmopolitan energy. Multi-disciplinary architecture and interior design practice JJ Acuna / Bespoke Studio, who are also responsible for the brand’s other locations—including Coffeelin Fortress Hill which opened earlier this year—playfully blended rustic, mid-century modern, and Memphis Group-inspired elements to create a modernised version of an Italian trattoria infused with nostalgic whimsy.

The design of each Coffeelin location is anchored in a unique story; for example, the Fortress Hill interior is inspired by family gatherings in an Italian grandmother’s kitchen. For Coffeelin Central, the team based their scheme on the memories of a grandchild’s visits to his uncle’s rustic trattoria, infusing the space with the warmth of a welcoming place and the exuberance of a child’s imaginative fantasy. Designed with openness and fluidity in mind, the space, which is located off the lift lobby within a glass and steel skyscraper, is accessed through a wide, arched opening flanked by heavy curtains instead of a doorway. Centred on a striking red bar counter, the venue extends into the building’s lift lobby with banquette seating encouraging visitors to come together over coffee, cocktails, and shared meals.