International Shopping Mall Westfield and Italian café brand Colicci commissioned award-winning architectural practice Mizzi Studio to design an iconic kiosk for the entrance of Westfield City’s shopping centre, leading from Queen Elizabeth’s Olympic Park, London.

Due to the site’s prominent location, the kiosk’s design is intended to provide a welcoming attraction for Westfield’s main entrance while also drawing visitors into the café to sample Colicci’s organic products.

Inspired by nature, the design takes on the form of an abstract copper leaf blowing in the wind. Its entrance and internal ceiling mimics the mouth of an orchid to form a copper cave that lures the visitor and enriches the customer experience.

The café’s sculptural roof is clad with 542 individual laser-cut copper sections fixed using traditional handcraft over a fibreglass shell with approximately 20,000 rivets.

The result is a building with a sculptural copper skin telling its story of craftsmanship with patinated finger prints and hammer marks creating a deep, layered, earthy texture that reveals itself as one approaches the building.

Paying homage to the craftsmanship, the copper was sealed with a matte clear lacquer, preserving its story while retaining the rich lustre and glistening reflective property of copper.

The combination of its neo-futuristic form and the innovative use of copper in architecture results in a functioning cafe that acts an iconic and noble public sculpture.

Jonathan Mizzi, 34, founder of multi-disciplinary practice, Mizzi Studio, is based both in London and Malta, and works across all scales and sectors, ranging from architecture, industrial design, lighting, interactive design and commercial artworks.

Mizzi Studios has worked with several high-profile enterprises, including the Royal Parks of Kensington and Chelsea, the Mondrian Hotel London, Zodiac Headquarters in Oxford Street, Tom Dixon and Marie Guerlain.

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