Foster & Black is known for making great coffee, but if there’s one thing Melburnians appreciate with their brew, it’s a splash of great design on the side.

As a design-led Australian coffee brand, Foster & Black has over 15 locations across Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, each with its own unique design and visual identity. Its latest retail kiosk is located in Melbourne Central, where the 20-square metre monolithic structure is constructed from MEGANITE Acrylic Solid Surface from ForestOne. With its bold, bright colour and sculptural form, you could be forgiven for thinking this design was born out of the 1960s pop futurism movement – it certainly speaks the same language as the iconic Panton chair. Surprisingly, this new coffee kiosk is distinctly modern.

With its durable, low-maintenance design and intentional material selection, the kiosk stands out in the shopping centre without sacrificing functionality or performance. Its sculptural, solid form integrates seating, tables and shelving, along with soft lighting that gives the design a warm, glowing effect.

An alternative to engineered stone

As an alternative product to engineered stone, ForestOne’s MEGANITE is an Acrylic Solid Surface product that replicates the look and feel of stone while being stain-resistant and highly repairable. Engineered stone can pose health risks if craftspeople are exposed to silica dust, but MEGANITE eradicates these risks with its 100 percent crystalline-silica-free and non-porous nature. As an acrylic product, it is safe for both builders and end users, making it the ideal benchtop surface for high-traffic retail and F&B spaces.

With its wide range of colours, patterns and applications, ForestOne’s MEGANITE is a high-performance product that allows for seamless designs. As a Solid Surface product, the material is made by chemically curing a mix of acrylic, resin, fillers, colour pigments and acrylic pellets, then cutting the hard mass into sheets. Workable like plywood, MEGANITE can also be heated and thermoformed to create custom shapes and curves, creating endless possible outcomes and applications.

A design partner and supplier in one

Instead of treating Foster & Black’s barista station as a purely functional, utilitarian space, ForestOne went beyond the expectations of a supplier to ensure the product integrated with interior designer Bergman & Co.‘s overall design vision. Perhaps the boldest of the colour options, ForestOne’s MEGANITE in ‘088A Fire’ was selected for its vibrancy.

Popping against the largely monochrome palette of Melbourne Central’s interiors, the saturated red design shows that, like coffee, small things can most definitely pack a punch.

Client: Foster & Black

Interior design: Bergman & Co

Fabricator: TKIC Solid Surface

Build: Addition Projects

Images: Sharyn Cairns.

See the full MEGANITE product range here.