MHN Design Union’s (MHNDU) Wilson Coffee, a pop-up takeaway coffee shop in Surry Hills, is a late 19th-century steam laundry turned warehouse-style pop-in-pop-out-café.
With a generous, high ceilinged warehouse space at its hind, a simple, draped curtain shuts out the space to see.
Instead, all to see is nothing particularly new, “We worked with our friends at the Architecture Factory, who made us the benches, shelves and menu boards from offcuts and bits and pieces. They also gave us an old light and an old fan,” says Tanya Awadallah, MHNDU’s practice manager and café manager, according to Broadsheet.
Jouquin Herrera Nina, who had previously run Café Con Leche in Surry Hills for eight years prior, was asked by Awadallah to be the new café’s barista.
“Our practice used to be on Hutchinson Street, so Joaquin was my go-to barista. Now I have him back.”
The seating in the café is sparse, yet looks out over a small park, to which invites the potential to “picnic in the park.”
Wilson Coffee donates 100 percent of its profits to charity which rotates every few months, including Oxfam, Australian Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery, the RFS and a gallery space in progress for supporting local artists.
The pop-up is anticipated to become a permanent fixture in Surry Hills’ Richards Lane.
