An avant-garde local studio was behind the design of Nana Coffee Roasters’ flagship location.

The workaday district of Bang Na rarely figures on the itineraries of visitors to the Thai capital, but thirsty travelers passing through the area can make a pit stop at Nana Coffee Roasters, just up the road from the Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Centre. Here, IDIN Architects — the name is an acronym for Integrating Design into Nature — has recently added a sublime extension of several light-filled spaces with the minimalistic feel of a modern art gallery.

Shielded from the busy arterial road out front by trees and high walls, three interlinked steel-and-concrete pavilions contain a “speed bar” and new seating areas. The pitched roofs take their cues from those of the site’s existing two-story building, which houses a café and “slow bar,” while glass walls and reflective ceilings blur the line between indoors and outdoors and indoors. (Patrons can also sit in the gardens amid the banyan trees.) Undulating countertops recall the mountainous terrain of coffee-growing regions in Thailand and other countries where Nana sources its beans. And since it was conceived during the pandemic, social distancing was baked into the design, with the uneven surface intended to separate groups of coffee drinkers.

Apart from classics like cappuccinos and Thai-style coffee, Nana offers a dizzying number of artisanal roasts representing countries as far afield as Colombia and Costa Rica, Ethiopia and Kenya. Those that reflect the terroir of Northern Thailand include Manipruek from Nan province, located on the border with Laos, and Moonstone’s sought-after beans from Mae Ton Luang in the countryside of Chiang Mai. There’s plenty of choice for non-coffee drinkers as well, with fine black teas like pu’er and oolong, kombucha, and summery drinks that use ingredients like matcha, yuzu, and mango.

nanacoffeeroasters.com