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Design Particulars: Fuglen Kyoto
- Mission: Fuglen Kyoto
- Location: Shichiku, Kita Ward, Kyoto, Japan (on Kitayama Dori)
- Accomplished: December 2025
- Program: Espresso bar (small stand with indoor counter seating and outside benches)
The latest Japanese espresso bar from Norwegian-born specialty espresso model Fuglen adapts a former neighborhood confectionery in Kyoto right into a compact, street-facing espresso stand with a mid-century trendy lounge really feel.
On Kitayama Dori in a quiet residential neighborhood referred to as Shichiku, the espresso store comes courtesy of native companions Ami and Shin Mononobe, a jewellery designer and design studio head, respectively, who bought the constructing simply previous to working with Fuglen.
Whereas the companions have their workplace, atelier and jewellery store in the identical constructing, the store itself is designed to replicate “a way of neighborhood the place the time flows at Kyoto tempo,” in response to a mission description Fuglen shared with DCN.
“Kyoto has lengthy been an incredible supply of inspiration for us,” Keiya Takahashi, Fuglen Japan CEO and director, stated. “We admire its centuries-old conventional cultures and values to guard outdated methods and incorporate them into trendy life. We now have at all times felt a robust synergy between Kyoto and our ideas that commemorate historical past, heritage and craftsmanship.”
The Kyoto store follows the model’s acquainted palette of Norwegian mid-century woodwork and heat lighting, with a ribbed wood bar, open shelving and low tables framing the espresso station.
Echoing the intimate scale of Fuglen’s authentic 1963 Oslo bar, the Kyoto store affords clear frontage, welcoming visitors to small desk seating, bar counters and outside benches that every one reinforce the mid-century trendy aesthetic.
“Fuglen has at all times developed by taking small, thought of steps. Kyoto looks like a pure continuation of our journey — a spot the place time and high quality are deeply revered,” Fuglen Founder and International Director Einar Kleppe Holthe stated within the announcement. “We sit up for seeing Fuglen Kyoto change into a pure a part of the neighborhood over time.”
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