The Moxi Café in Ohope is both eye-catching and practical, with an industrial minimalist look that combines form with function. The café was conceived by two locals who were determined to bring great coffee to their home town. It opened in spring 2017 after a very short construction period and on a very tight site.

The building itself is made up of repurposed shipping containers that accommodate the kitchen, toilet and servery areas. Then to match this a Bask Outdoor Living System was chosen, firstly for its aesthetics and secondly to provide shelter from the rain, respite from the sun and to let in light as required. The whole effect gives an industrial chic look that perfectly matches the no fuss, great service mantra of the café itself.

To prevent the finished café looking like a mishmash of large elements, colour has been cleverly used to tie different elements together. Matt Black was used for the containers and louvre roof frame to give a modern look, and lighter colours such as Silver Pearl were used for the louvre blades, providing an optical illusion of increased ceiling height to make the area look bigger.

In total, the area covered by the louvre roof is almost 47m², so finding a compliant layout that didn’t detract from the ambience was a challenge. A combination of structural posts and connections to the container structure were selected so that bay sizes could be maximised and posts minimised. The result is a great structure, fit for purpose and the backdrop to a successful business where the food and the service are the real stars.