M AC K IE ’ S ROA STERY H A LL C E N T R E OF C OFFE E E XC E LLE N C E
Ben Russell Bcr2000@outlook.com
DIS SERTAT I O N
P R EM I SE
Mackie’s Roastery Hall (MRH) interior design concept is built on the social, cultural, and educational principles that a centre for coffee excellence can provide. This paper aims to focus on how the bean-to-cup process can be enhanced educationally by the visible roastery in action and through enjoyable options to engage with workshops for the casually interested and Barista professionals looking to hone their skills in training courses at Mackie’s Barista School. Housing, the social, cultural and educational aspects all under one roof enhances the community feel that is inherent within the Northern Quarter district in central Manchester where MRH is situated. This will subsequently inform primary research to gain knowledge of how a local coffee shop runs their business from sourcing their beans to serving customers in coffee houses.
CENTRE OF COFFEE EXCELLENCE Through exploration of internal sun paths, this will provide insight into key locations of the different components of the brief.
WINTE R S O L S TAC E
8AM
12PM
6PM
12PM
6PM
12PM
6PM
E Q UI NOX
8AM
S UM M E R S O L S TAC E
8AM
C O F FEE BEA N S A R A B ICA & RO B USTA
THE ORIGINS OF THE COFFEE BEAN As coffee is at the centre of this concept, research into its origins and how the beverage became such a social and commercial success after being introduced and discovered in many countries is why there’s so much variation in types of beans in the modern-day according to Azoury, (2022). Sourcing beans from different countries, regions and farms has a significant effect on the coffee as conditions in climates are completely different to result in coffee to ‘adopt and adapt to the native agroforest systems’ (Jaffee, n.d.) and therefore have a significantly different flavour and style. The aim is to bring this cultural choice
CHERRY FRUIT. HOLDS THE COFFEE SEEDS
to the MRH by offering classes such as the Sensory Course where customers engage with the rich tastes and aromas of different coffee. Sinnott states that ‘Commercial coffee production may seem like one big mass of beans, but generally, it splits worldwide into commodity and specialty coffee’ (2010: Chapter 1, Knowing Your Coffee Beans) and MRH will focus on the art of speciality coffee instead of treating coffee as a beverage simply for the source of caffeine.
To provide some context, there are two main varieties of a coffee
ROBUSTA
tree: Coffea Arabica which is typically a smooth light/medium roast and Coffea Robusta, a stronger plant ‘indigenous to the Congo and whose seeds are cheaper than those of the Arabica variety’ (Montes, 2001). Arabica trees grow between ‘3.7 and 6 m high’ (Sinnott, 2010 Chapter 1, Knowing Your Coffee Beans) and farming often is done by hand due to the mountainous land Arabica coffee grows on, with farmers picking by hand using a ‘ladder or a hook, [to choose] the ripest beans’ (Sinnott, 2010 Ibid). The most successful farmers would pick the ripest berry’s multiple times a season. There are many positive’s for Robusta coffee beans as they have a higher caffeine content, grow at lower altitude in a wider range of climate conditions and even has some ‘disease resistance’ (Sinnott, 2010 Ibid) hence the name, Robusta. But MRH’s stratigic business stratagy is to focus on the very highest quality of speciality Arabica coffee as it provides an ‘extensive taste range from sweet-soft to sharp-tangy’ (Arabica vs. Robusta: The Ultimate Guide To Types of Coffee, 2022).
By understanding the rich history of the bean to cup process of coffee, how can this be presented to customers in Mackie’s Barista School experience?
ARABICA