Our longstanding relationship with Sightglass Coffee continues at SFMOMA, with a café that intervenes where the gestural, formal Snøhetta expansion meets the pure, symmetrical, geometric volumes of the Botta interior.

It was an immense pleasure to design at the intersection of this larger aesthetic conversation. We took the opportunity to create an original, site-specific solution for this Sightglass, deviating from the local architectural brand we developed for their first two locations. By playfully twisting the café’s main façade—using curvaceous custom concrete panels around a strict symmetry—the design fills our given niche while mingling with the surrounding museum interior.

The curved façade also fulfills a demand for highly efficient service areas, in response to the café’s small footprint and high-volume location. A palette of concrete, natural maple, blackened steel and soft museum white reflects the refined modernity of the transformed museum, and features custom designed and fabricated elements including the bar and light fixtures.