The following description is courtesy of Giorgi Khmaladze Architects.
The project is a Coffee production plant, office with a small cafe, and coffee exhibit spaces ‐ all under one giant undulating green roof and monolithic concrete enclosure.
General Description
Tbilisi, Georgia – Located on a highway connecting the city to the airport, the site is sparsely developed. Surrounded by fields and pine trees. the project houses a coffee production plant, its offices, coffee tasting, and small coffee exhibits.
Inside, all programs are arranged in a continuous unobstructed space, with glass partitions as boundaries in between. From the highway, the building is a homogeneous concrete folded volume with no visible openings that would define its programs, on the backside it opens up towards the pine forest. From above, it blends into surroundings by a vast green roof, where occasional openings in forms of atriums, terraces, and skylights bring natural light indoors. This reduces the impact of a large building footprint visible from the planes taking off and landing next to the site.
Concept / Context and Strategy
Given the prominent location, the city required a building that would escape the regular factory appearance, and the client’s intention was to create a strong visual identity for the newly created coffee brand. The program required spaces that would fit both, coffee production plant with its facilities and office space which would provide a variety of workspace arrangements, meetings, and socializing areas, both indoors and outdoors. Additionally, public areas which would include coffee
tasting cafe with small coffee exhibits.
As a response, a regular, box‐like volume of a production plant required to serve the building’s primary purpose adjusts to program components by wrapping around them. It stays high where necessary to fit production equipment and lowers where possible. Same with office, the building shell wraps around work, meeting, and rest spaces arranged on floors suspended on various levels.
The three atriums as the light wells and numerous skylights bring daylight to the work and shared spaces below. The atriums are filled with plants to form small green outdoor spaces directly visible from all indoor areas.
From the highway, the monolithic mass with no visible openings adapted to the slope of the site is an object of curiosity. While its internal spaces are all oriented and open towards the green park located on the backside and the sky by means of two terraces which are part of the green roof.
The all‐concrete facade folds to produce double-curved geometry. Its appearance changes during the course of a day, following sun movement producing an interplay of light and shadows.
The central entrance is a narrow gap produced by a lifted concrete shell leading into a large main lobby located between the two of the green atriums. The multilevel platforms for coffee exhibits and lounges are greeting visitors along the stairs and ramps leading to the coffee tasting cafe and the office spaces.
The underground level is mainly used for indoor parking and various storage and facilities.
Construction / Materials and Structure
The concrete structure with a one‐way waffle slab spans up to 16 meters to create large unobstructed spaces. Steel floor slabs are suspended from the roof slab on various levels with the use of steel rods.
The cast in place concrete folded facade which ages well is a double wall with an insulating layer in between. The 3,680 sqm green roof acts as an additional thermal barrier to the roof insulation. The roof is intended to grow vegetation found around the site with wild grasses and plants, to blend with the context and require less maintenance.
Project Details
Project: Coffee Production Plant – Meama
Location: Tbilisi, Georgia
Year: 2016‐2017 Design, 2017‐2019 Construction
Size: 9,750 sqm
Architect: Khmaladze Architects
Design Team: Giorgi Khmaladze (Project Leader), Tinatin Sherazadishvili, Anuki Khutsishvili, Mako Bagishvili Goshadze;
Structural Engineers: Capiteli; Cubicon;
MEP Engineers: Casa Calda;
Lighting: Prolight
General Contractor: Unix Development
