C54 - McLovin
Project Status: done
Size:60sqm
Year: 2026
location: tel-aviv
Description:
The C54 project began with a clear ambition: to reconnect the coffee experience to a distinctly local Middle Eastern atmosphere. In contrast to the cold, sharp, laboratory-like aesthetic often associated with third-wave coffee culture, this space called for a warmer, more rooted temperament. one informed by climate, materiality, texture, and color.
The goal was to deliver coffee at an international standard within a deeply local spatial identity.
The first architectural move was the creation of a textured interior envelope made from coarse “Arava” plaster, applied with natural, expressive strokes. The plaster deliberately reveals its method of application; one can trace the hand gestures of the craftsman across the walls. Imperfection, patina, and the passage of time are not flaws but intentional components. consciously embedded as central elements in the architectural language of the space.
This dense, mineral envelope generates an almost cave-like atmosphere, as if the café were carved from a solid mass.
In parallel to this material strategy, extensive use of birch wood defines the furniture and the front façade, which also operates as a spatial element in itself. The façade becomes a place to sit, observe the street, and engage with the fast-moving urban landscape, while remaining anchored in a slower, more contemplative interior experience.
These two primary gestures: the mineral shell and the crafted wood, are unified and amplified through the use of “Brissol” light planes, producing a soft, even wash of illumination that enhances the material depth and reinforces the calm, immersive atmosphere of the space.
photography: simon barazin
Project Status: done
Size:60sqm
Year: 2026
location: tel-aviv
Description:
The C54 project began with a clear ambition: to reconnect the coffee experience to a distinctly local Middle Eastern atmosphere. In contrast to the cold, sharp, laboratory-like aesthetic often associated with third-wave coffee culture, this space called for a warmer, more rooted temperament. one informed by climate, materiality, texture, and color.
The goal was to deliver coffee at an international standard within a deeply local spatial identity.
The first architectural move was the creation of a textured interior envelope made from coarse “Arava” plaster, applied with natural, expressive strokes. The plaster deliberately reveals its method of application; one can trace the hand gestures of the craftsman across the walls. Imperfection, patina, and the passage of time are not flaws but intentional components. consciously embedded as central elements in the architectural language of the space.
This dense, mineral envelope generates an almost cave-like atmosphere, as if the café were carved from a solid mass.
In parallel to this material strategy, extensive use of birch wood defines the furniture and the front façade, which also operates as a spatial element in itself. The façade becomes a place to sit, observe the street, and engage with the fast-moving urban landscape, while remaining anchored in a slower, more contemplative interior experience.
These two primary gestures: the mineral shell and the crafted wood, are unified and amplified through the use of “Brissol” light planes, producing a soft, even wash of illumination that enhances the material depth and reinforces the calm, immersive atmosphere of the space.
photography: simon barazin
