Concepts and Formats

A trio of Italian-style coffee bars

Italian-style coffee bars are traditionally a place for meeting and socializing. The central element is the bar counter, manned by a friendly, skilled barista. Indoors and outdoors there are tables for anyone wishing to read the newspaper, have a chat and comment on the day's affairs.

This is the concept of a coffee bar which inspired the designs for "espressamente illy" produced by three great Italian architects.

Luca Trazzi's steel is an expression of cleanliness and solidity, reflecting the colorful illy items.

Warmer materials - stone, wood and brass - offer the sensation of elegance, sensuality and serenity proposed by Claudio Silvestrin.

Paola Navone's white china counter, enclosed in the small steel capsule, is warmed by the chairs in illycaffe red.

There are five versions of each concept, expressing the different functions and locations of the coffee bars:

• Core Bar for bars in the historic center, overlooking a square
• Landscape Bar for larger places, where people spend more time, such as in museums and shopping malls
• Transit Bar for a quick break, at railway stations or airports.
• Community Bar for local bars, with regular customers.
• Corner Bar for coffee bars like the ones you find even in the small space of a hotel foyer.

Based on these modules and the varying atmospheres, and with illycaffe's guidance and the assistance of reliable, expert companies, each manager can fulfill their own idea, their own project of a bar where they can work comfortably and welcome their customers skillfully and warmly.