Turkey’s Cup of Joy has chosen Marylebone for its first address abroad. Founded in Istanbul’s Bebek neighbourhood in 2013, the speciality coffee and bakery brand now operates eight cafés across Turkey. Its London site occupies two floors on Blandford Street, opposite Jikoni, with coffee, pastries and an all-day menu served within an interior by EBBA Architects.
Wallpaper* visits Cup of Joy coffee shop, London
The mood: Istanbul in clay and stone
EBBA founder Benni Allan travelled across Istanbul while developing the project, visiting Cup of Joy’s existing cafés and studying the city’s stone walls, recessed openings and shaded courtyards. These architectural qualities informed the construction of the London interior. As such, clay plaster covers the ground floor and continues into the stairwell. Large pieces of Portland stone occupy the lower sections of the walls, with smaller fragments appearing higher up.
The studio selected and positioned each piece on site before applying the clay around its edges. The surface has the irregular composition of old masonry, though its form is distinctly contemporary. A continuous datum establishes a clear scale across the room. Within the thick walls, oak-lined recesses contain benches, retail displays, a water fountain and small seating areas. The oak bar sits diagonally across the ground floor, with tables and other custom furniture aligned to the same angle.
Timber and opaque glass panels cover the ceiling, producing an even, ambient light across the clay surfaces. The effect suits a room intended for both early coffee and long lunches, without exposing diners to the glare of individual spotlights. Woodblock flooring extends across both storeys, while a terracotta-concrete staircase with a matching steel frame connects them. Downstairs, clay plaster covers the ceiling and oak panelling lines the walls, creating a smaller, closely enclosed dining room.
The food: Coffee, eggs and Aleppo pepper butter
Cup of Joy’s house blend combines sustainably sourced Arabica beans from El Salvador, Brazil and Colombia, with flavours of dark chocolate, orange and hazelnut. Coffee is served in one-off ceramic cups made by co-founder and self-taught ceramicist Gökçe Kalyoncu. Their uneven profiles and glazed surfaces introduce a small element of variation to the daily flat white.
The all-day menu includes a bagel filled with feta and heirloom tomatoes, pistachio porridge, toasties and salads. Eggs Istanbul are finished with Aleppo pepper butter – a nod to the brand’s Turkish beginnings. For something sweet, Baba Au Tea consists of poppy-seed sponge soaked in orange rooibos syrup and topped with whipped cream.
Cup of Joy is located at 28 Blandford Street, Marylebone, London W1U 4BZ, United Kingdom