Composed Calm – Midi 3121 by Sans-Arc Studio

Subtly inserted amongst its combined brutalist and industrial surrounds, Midi 3121 brings a sense of reprieve and animation in both its offering and its materiality. Through restraint and refinement, Sans-Arc Studio combines a welcomed calm with a composed escape.

Set in the textural grit and bustle of Melbourne’s Richmond, Midi 3121 acts as a transformative place of escape. Within the architectural shell by MA Architects, the café offering celebrates that which Melbournians hold most dear – coffee. Drawing from the solid and brutalist form of the building it sits within, a sense of contrast and warmth form the foundations for the directive for the space, further brought together through an expressed craft and heightening of detail. Together with specialised graphics by Tom Clayton, Sans-Arc Studio reimagines the traditional coffee offering, maximising impact through a deliberately conscious approach. The resulting sense of calm is achieved through diffused lighting and subtleties in textures, enlivened by interplay with light throughout the day.

Acting as a textural anchor within the space is the timber counter that welcomes guests and encourages a sense of engagement.

Built by Frameworks Melbourne, the engagement by Sans-Arc Studio came after the kitchen had already been built and the project was nearing completion. This left a limited timeframe to complete the story for the space, drawing on the surrounds and existing narrative of the area, as well as the architectural proposition to form a fitting response. In its slightness, each element needed to provide both utility and not distract from the overall volume and industrial feel already in place. Behind the stainless steel and glass shop front, the seamless poured flooring runs throughout the space and into the kitchen. Acting as a textural anchor within the space is the timber counter that welcomes guests and encourages a sense of engagement. The element sits expressing the artisanal and a handmade approach, similar to the story of coffee making itself.

Hugging the inside and side wall is a linear banquette seating element, where a softly muted green breaks up the monochromatic palette and introduces colour. Select equally minimal furniture and accruements are then dotted throughout, sitting as sculptures internally. While the larger concept of the building uses monolithic and masonry features to create presence in place, as the elements of Midi 3121 reveal themselves, they show a considered refinement. The journey from the macro to the micro connects through materiality and the expression of the form, while allowing contrast to create a natural hierarchy.

While the larger concept of the building uses monolithic and masonry features to create presence in place, as the elements of Midi 3121 reveal themselves, they show a considered refinement.

Midi 3121 draws on a less is more philosophical base, seeing Sans-Arc Studio carve a restorative place to pause in the process.