Truth Coffee approached Haldane Martin in 2011 to design the interiors of their cafés, including their new 1500m² headquarters in Cape Town’s Fringe Innovation district.The brief was to deepen Truth Coffee’s brand identity and promote their coffee roastery business through interior design. Haldane Martin immediately came up with Steampunk as an appropriate conceptual reference, as both coffee roasters and espresso machines display elements of romantic, steam-powered technology. Steampunk’s obsession with detail and sensual aesthetics also captured the essence of Truth Coffee’s product philosophy: We roast coffee. Properly.

▼首层空间概览，ground floor view ©Mickey Hoyle

A three-storey, turn of the century, warehouse building on Buitenkant Street in Cape Town was chosen by the Truth partners to be their new headquarters. The building was stripped back to its bare bones, exposing beautiful cast iron pillars, Oregon pine roof trusses and floors, and the original stone and brick walls. Haldane Martin also opened up the ground floor façade onto the busy Buitenkant Street with a series of tall steel and glass doors. Most of the building’s natural, aged patina was kept intact and complemented with raw steel, timber, leather, brass and copper finishes.

The two top floors were converted into a creative studio office rental space. The 600m² ground floor was kept as Truth’s headquarters and needed to include a 120-seat restaurant, café, bar and kitchen, their newly acquired 3-tonne Probat roaster, a barista trainee school, public event space, coffee bean warehouse, espresso machine workshop, management office and restrooms.

▼首层用餐空间，dining area on the ground floor ©Mickey Hoyle