Client : NoChintz
Business : Food + Beverage
Location : City Centre, Manchester
SQM : 140
Completed : 2019

Owned and operated by NoChintz, Foundation Coffee House continuously evolves as we use our design led approach to activate a business and deliver a leading hospitality destination.

In late 2019 Foundation Portland, the latest in a rapidly expanding group of hospitality destinations owned and operated by NoChintz, joined the flagship Northern Quarter venue and  its sister site at Whitworth Locke aparthotel.

For NoChintz, the brand is a showcase of the studio’s ability to deliver leading food and beverage concepts that attract, engage and retain customers throughout the lifecycle of a business – going beyond interior roll outs and branding concepts to gain a unique insight into what actually makes a hospitality venture work on the ground, every day.

Part of the Aviva Investors portfolio, 11 Portland Street is a prime central Manchester location at the heart of a busy business thoroughfare. With a smaller footprint, high walk-by custom and, during the morning rush, an often time poor visitor profile, NoChintz faced the challenge of creating an operationally sound environment that worked fast yet maintained the brand’s independent philosophy.

The group’s signature industrial feel carries through at Foundation Portland, this time a little brighter and crisper in character. With each design element conceived to marry efficiency with appeal, visitors are immediately met with the soft curve of a speckled monochrome terrazzo counter, leading smoothly onto a display of cakes, drinks and snacks in one direction and a top of the range La Mazocco coffee machine in the other.

Grey tones and polished concrete paired with gridded white wall tiling, bleached plywood fixtures and black furnishings are met by bespoke wall lighting and precision engineering detail. Behind the counter black metalwork shelving houses products, planting and menus designed and developed – from the coffee itself to the packets it comes in - by NoChintz’s Foundation Coffee House team. 

A clever use of the smaller space, multi-purpose retail displays partition the servery from its seating area, where upholstered benches, tables and chairs allow guests look out across the bustling city centre. A wide corridor lined with high seating for quiet working or intimate coffee dates extends past the counter and leads towards the toilets, which pair monochrome terrazzo tiling with contemporary oak black accessories.

Outside, the ‘hex’ mark that represents Foundation’s industrial roots hangs illuminated in the window, punctuating the store front and creating a dialogue with the clean, bold signage that runs throughout venue’s interior.