Greenhouse

I am a bit obsessed with planter walls. At some point I hope to build one (anyone interested?).  So when I saw that a pop up café called Greenhouse (literally a constructed “green house”) had come to Sydney’s Harbor, I was there!

I am definitely a fan of the oh-so-trendy new global phenomenon, the “pop up” store/café/etc.  I have stumbled upon several interesting ones since I have been in Sydney: a club, only open in the evening, transformed into an art market during the day; a designer selling handmade objects ranging from clocks to lights and other cool homewares, renting a vacant commercial space for a week. I love that they just "pop up" and disappear when you least expect it. It makes things interesting.

Back to Greenhouse, this "pop up" café has landed on some prime real estate sitting adjacent to Sydney’s scenic Harbour, just east of the Harbour Bridge in Circular Quay (pronounced key not kway), Dawes Point to be exact . I had seen the architect’s work (Joost Bakker) published before but it was great to get up close. 

On the outside, a cube constructed out of an external cladding system made of rebar and steel mesh serves as a pedestal for terracotta planter pots that grow and change with the weather (living and dying). A series of orange shipping containers provide additional space for services, the basic design strategy allowing for quick assembly and dismantling. On the inside, a sustainable and waste free café with a menu that features chef, Matt Stone’s simple cooking. The menu, black painted words on the walls and ceilings adds another dimension to the space and reads vibrantly from the outside (may hurt your neck to read but worth it).

I read somewhere that it might remain permanently in Sydney. I am pretty sure that if this is true, the location will change. Who knows where it will be next? Maybe it will be coming to a city near you? That’s the mystery of the “pop up.”