After outgrowing their Karangahape Road location, Eighthirty expands into a new roastery and café designed by Dominic Glamuzina
Eighthirty Coffee moves their roastery to a crisp, urbane new space
Auckland Coffee roaster Eighthirty has established a bit of a reputation in recent years for crisp, beautifully realised cafes designed by Dominic Glamuzina of Glamuzina Architects, and its new roastery is a fine addition.
Eighthirty has made a point of inhabiting spaces in areas that had somehow been forgotten – rejuvenating patches of the city as a result. “It started with me making Dom coffee in the mornings when he moved back from London,” says owner Glenn Bell. “He’d seen a photo of our space on K Road and decided it was going to be his new coffee joint when he got back.”
A former barista, Glamuzina (with Aaron Paterson) first designed a mini roastery in Ponsonby Central for the roaster in 2010, followed by a minimalist high-ceilinged cafe on High Street, which featured in the December 2015/January 2016 issue of HOME.
Now, having outgrown its roastery on K Road, Eighthirty has opened a terrific new space in the Tasman Building at the bottom of Anzac Avenue, where staff will roast coffee alongside patrons drinking single origin and eating from a short, simple menu (we recommend the smoked fish on toast).
It’s familiar, and yet different from their previous spaces: steel-framed windows, raw concrete floors that show their age along with crisp, urbane insertions including a very long bar with a cut-away corner and timber-topped black wire-steel furniture. It’s tough yet delicate, and somehow highly intellectual.
“It’s an ongoing discussion,” says Bell, who toured roasters in Copenhagen and Los Angeles last year with Glamuzina while researching the new space. “We want it to evolve, and not just repeat the same language. We get enjoyment from making interesting things – not safe things.”
Eighthirty Coffee
16 Anzac Ave, Auckland
eighthirty.com
Photography by: Sam Hartnett
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