Sourcing materials, employing craftsmen on a localized basis, and incorporating reused and recycled elements, Starbucks aims to achieve LEED certification for all new company-operated stores beginning in 2010, in addition to providing licensed stores and other business partners with design plans and guidance on construction.
Two recently completed stores – one in Seattle and the other in Paris – reflects the new design strategy of the company to create new environments that will try to re-explore the spirit of a traditional coffeehouse, including the sale of wine and beer, and playing host to live music and poetry readings. Sporting a look vastly different from the brand’s standard, 15th Avenue E Coffee and Tea has a rustic but modern mix of wood and tin plus a celebration of coffee beans and tea leaves. Espressos will be made using a manual machine.
With planning and design in line for the next round of stores, the Seattle-based company plans to incorporate reused and recycled elements where possible, including its famous cups. Attempting to derive 50% of the energy used in its company-operated stores from renewable sources by 2010, the stores will incorporate energy-saving actions, including replacing the incandescent bulbs in its spaces with LEDs.
Spearheaded by Arthur Rubinfeld, the president of Starbucks Global Development and the executive credited for creating the store atmosphere that helped define the brand in the early 1990s, the back-to-basics approach aims to match the shade of the company logo. Rubinfeld hopes the customers to feel an enhanced sense of community, a deeper connection to their coffee heritage and a greater level of commitment to environmental consciousness by this new design.
