Conceived as a single Brutalist concrete element, Expat Roasters wraps a compact Bali café in one enveloping material, balancing the dichotomies of light and dark, inside and outside, robust and airy. The café’s logo is debossed into the concrete wall as a super-graphic, tempered by dark glass, warm lighting and shelves of native suar timber. Black steel frames the doors and openings, a dark green ceiling deepens the mood overhead, and locally woven rattan extends the emphasis on Indonesian craft. With so little competing for attention, coffee and culture take centre stage.

At the street, bespoke patterned tiles in brand’s teal colour line the façade, their motif echoing local flora. A stand-up espresso bar meets the outdoors through a full-width, steel-framed window, appearing to pass through the façade to reach those perched on concrete plinth seats in the tropical air. Inside, a powder-coated steel structure suspends a mirrored lighting feature above the counter, reflecting each coffee from above as it’s made, a small piece of theatre in a room of quiet weight.

Branding & Concept Partner: 21-19