The Meama coffee factory – a monolithic factory made of béton brut
Tbilisi // Georgia

The Meama coffee factory building was completed in 2019. It stands on a 30,000-sqm plot surrounded by fields and a pine forest on a highway connecting the capital of Georgia, Tbilisi, with the airport. The futuristic construction is home to the Meama Coffee Factory, Georgia’s largest coffee roaster. The new corporate centre is a combination of rooms for producing the finest coffee blends and modern offices plus facilities for coffee tastings and small exhibitions dedicated to coffee.

The factory is a state-of-the-art lighthouse project with a unique, folded concrete façade and a large green roof. The monolithic, L-shaped building with its futuristic look is perfectly embedded into the lush landscape. Far from being a run-of-the-mill factory, its extraordinary, individual architecture symbolises corporate values. The building has created a strong sense of identity; by design, the offices foster innovation and inspiration.

On the highway side, the building looks like a mysterious folded object without openings. However, the rooms inside indeed open up on the forest side of the property, large window façades and spacious terraces connecting it with nature.

The impressive 3,680-sqm green roof covered with local grass and plant species perfectly melts into the natural surroundings of the place. From above, the factory is virtually invisible. The roof protects the inside against air traffic noise. What is more, it’s an additional thermal insulation barrier. There are patio and terrace openings and skylights in the roof so that the building is lit in a natural way from above. Ceiling heights depend on purpose. The production halls are rather high to cater for equipment. Steel-reinforced concrete slabs are suspended from the ceiling, resting on steel bars. In this way, various levels connected by stairs and ramps have been created. They offer ample space for offices, tastings and exhibitions.

With the concept for the Meama Coffee Factory, Giorgi Khmaladze Architects have once more underpinned their focus on sustainability, aesthetics and design. The property perfectly meets the requirements by the owners as well as local legal building standards.

In 2019, the project won the first place in the “Best industrial buildings” category of the ArchDaily & Strelka Awards. In 2020, the construction received an audience award for low industrial commercial properties (one to four floors high).

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Project: Meama coffee factory
Location: Georgia
Architect: Khmaladze Architects
Photographers: Giorgi Khmaladze, Nakani Mamasakhlisi