Café Source

Architects Pavel Nový and Vít Svoboda from the architectural studio 0.5 Studio designed a new café Coffee Source at the intersection of Prague's Vinohrady and Vršovice – an area renowned for its vibrant cultural and gastronomic life. The café, located on the ground floor of a residential building from the 1930s, features an interior designed in a purely contemporary manner, while still allowing guests to find several elements referencing the time of the building's origin. The most striking feature of the café is a wall covered with living plants, and during the summer months, the display windows can be pushed out, directly connecting the interior with the street.

Coffee Source is a Czech company engaged in the preparation and sale of both specialty and conventional coffee. Since 2003, it has been distributing luxury La Marzocco coffee machines in the Czech Republic, operating its own roastery and several cafés. The main café had been located for a while on Francouzská Street, but as Coffee Source deals with the distribution of not only the highest quality coffee but also the most progressive technologies, it was necessary to relocate the space that had been used for several years to a new location and process the café in a contemporary way. The owners found such a space a few houses away. It was characterized by large windows and a generous view of the bustling Francouzská street.

In 2018, the architects from 0.5 Studio designed a La Marzocco coffee machine showroom for Coffee Source in Prague's Hostivař, and during the realization of the café, the collaboration deepened even further. The aim of this design was to create a comfortable café with a background for the sale of coffee and café accessories. Although it historically involved several smaller shops, the architects decided to create a cohesive, generous space. Its dominant feature is a long bar covered with wooden ash paneling running throughout the café. Part of it can be well utilized for events such as cupping, workshops, or training.
Thanks to the exceptional technological solution, which can only be seen here in the Czech Republic, the massive coffee machine does not obstruct communication between the barista and the guest. The integrated Modbar coffee machine only brings elegant espresso heads and a steam wand to the counter; the body of the machine is hidden under the bar top.
Large display windows connect the interior with the exterior, allowing observers to watch the happenings on the street or even glimpse the opposite Šaloun's studio. In the summer months, there will be an option to push out the display windows and settle into the openings with pleasant wooden linings. Guests of the original café greatly enjoyed the pleasant garden in the interior courtyard. This has been replaced in the new space by a lively vertical garden, which conceptually connects with the nearby gardens and is one of the leitmotifs of the entire design.
The architects fully utilized the potential and atmosphere of the summer underused ground floor of the Vršovice house from the 1930s in their solution. This approach is evident in the successful use of the original terrazzo floor, which was cleaned and sensitively supplemented. The walls were treated with a two-tone brizolit, a material used on the original facade of the building. This added depth to the space and a clear reference to the history of the place. The entire realization is characterized by precise detailing with the use of interesting elements. The design managed to maintain coherence and, thanks to many inspirations from history, create a new fresh form of a contemporary café.
The location at the border of Vinohrady and Vršovice around Krymská and Francouzská streets has long been a sought-after area for lovers of good food and drink. Moreover, this is not the first project by 0.5 Studio in this neighborhood – in 2016, they designed a restaurant focused on Asian fusion cuisine. With the newly opened Coffee Source café added to the map, another significant spot worth visiting has emerged.