In our first project delivered for client CBRE Global Investors, we were tasked with selecting a site and developing a bespoke design for a new c£600k Costa pod at the popular Heanor Retail Park in Derbyshire.
The team’s first task was to carefully select the site to give the 1,840 sq.ft unit prominence, but without negatively impacting the sight lines to the existing retail terrace. Having chosen a plot situated on the A6007, one of the main arterial routes through the centre of town, our design had to create an individual contemporary drive-to unit that fitted in with the feel of the Costa brand but was bespoke to the site.
We worked beyond the standard Costa design, with its mono-pitch roof and white render/timber façades, and created a modern minimalist design to give the unit its own identity. The quality of the materials used were a key aspect of the finished unit, with the external façade being a mixture of reconstituted stone cladding, cedar cladding and aluminium cladding in dark red to tie in with the Costa brand identity. The addition of an extended canopy along the front elevation offers a semi-covered area for the external seating.
Director, Tom McNamara said: “We think our Costa pod is a real asset to the park, serving the existing customers well and hopefully increasing dwell time. Feedback from the Costa staff is that the unit is trading better than expected, and the reviews on the coffee shop’s Facebook page have been very complimentary.”