Jo Nagasaka / Schemata Architects has created a non-contact café that retains the warmth of human connection.

The design sees a new type of café where everything from ordering to serving products can be carried out without direct contact. It addresses both the idea of adapting to a contact-free world, and the need for a store that can be developed in various locations.

A portable unit of 'beehive'-like rocker boxes sees each rocker box built into a slender wooden shaft, with transparency carefully considered in terms of material and thickness so that guests and baristas can faintly sense each other's movements through the frosted acrylic surface.

To create a sense of warmth despite the lack of physical contact, the rocker box allocated to the customer via their order number is softly lit up from the inside when the product is placed inside, to gently alert them for pick-up.

This project has been longlisted in the product design category of Dezeen Awards 2022.

Designer: Jo Nagasaka / Schemata Architects

Project: Contactless Pick-Up Station for Blue Bottle Coffee

Read more: Jo Nagasaka, Schemata Architects