“Let’s fast forward to 300 takeout coffees later.” If you gathered up all the paper cups that a busy espresso bar goes through during the morning rush, compressed them into a tidy trash cube and then cast that in stainless steel, you might end up with something resembling the monumental counter that anchors Café Nuances in the Marais district of Paris. In the leadup to the July opening of the space, designed by Crosby Studios, the coffee shop’s Instagram account teased its arrival with images of paper cups scattered in the streets. Sure enough, pay a visit to the finished project, and the crumpled elements that adorn the back bar gradually reveal themselves to be shiny representations of yesterday’s lattes.

Of course, none of this is to say that the coffee at Café Nuances tastes like trash — far from it, in fact. Now operating four locations across Paris, the artisanal roastery is celebrated as much for its rich, flavourful beans as it is for its cool style. (Case and point: its logo is a fun illustration of a dancing couple drawn by artist Pol Montserrat.) Hence the business’s decision to tap Crosby Studios for the design of its latest outpost. Led by New York- and Paris-based artist and architect Harry Nuriev, the practice has long specialized in avant-garde material experiments — and the edgy focal point that it has introduced at Café Nuances carries on that tradition.

The bar cleverly conveys both the artistry that goes into espresso production as well as the sheer volume of drinks that the average barista serves each day. It is, in other words, a shrine to the fuel that keeps a creative neighbourhood running. (Hopefully, its showcase of unnecessary waste also encourages a few customers to start traveling with a reusable mug.) 

Even for those who don’t clock the coffee cup connection, the counter still impresses as an abstract sculpture. From afar, its texture evokes molten lava, but its materiality feels lifted straight from a sci-fi movie set. The tension between these two identities — primordial and futuristic — is heightened by the counter’s perfectly smooth top and hard edges. The seating that surrounds it continues this same dynamic: Some of the café’s stools are clean-lined cubes, while others are partially or fully covered in the same magma treatment as the bar, almost as if they were splashed during a volcanic eruption.

Adding to that atmosphere is the fiery wall that defines the back of the café. Orange is the signature hue of Café Nuances, found in some form at all three of the business’s other locations. While the colour is limited to just one wall here, the fact that all the surrounding surfaces are clad in stainless steel surfacing means that its blaze still reverberates throughout the full interior. Otherwise, the rest of the setup is kept minimal and clean. Floors are clad in concrete, while a glazed storefront offers a clear view into the dynamic environment inside. From sunrise to sunset, Café Nuances is ready and waiting to turn coffee time into an art form.