Café Review: Blue Bottle Gwanghwamun

This was the first Blue Bottle in Korea that I visited, and one that I’ve visited a few times since then.

A person sits behind a vase full of flowers, reading a book. The Blue Bottle signage is on the wall behind them.

In the center of one of Seoul’s three business districts, our Gwanghwamun cafe sits at the bottom of a 20-story office building at 11 Cheonggyecheon-ro alongside the Cheonggye Stream. Restored in 2003, the banks of the stream now serve as a public gathering space and cultural arts venue. We designed the cafe for local workers seeking a reprieve and tourists looking for a coffee near Cheonggye Plaza and Stream.
To continue the feeling of flow from the outdoor urban plaza, we designed the cafe with the idea of openness, with multiple windows reaching from the floor nearly to the ceiling facing the square. To keep the guests’ focus on the coffee and coffee professionals, we set the bar in the center of the space, wrapping it around the two structural columns. Inside the cafe, we offer plenty of seating and perching options at red oak tables and bars, but on nice days, we imagine many guests will take their coffee for a walk along the Cheonggye Stream.

I would highly recommend going to this Blue Bottle café, getting your drink to-go, and sitting outside along the banks of the Cheonggye stream.