Starbucks The Bank in Amsterdam

If I say Starbucks and interior design, what comes to mind?

Probably the familiar idea that every branch looks the same. In Amsterdam, however, Starbucks tried something more ambitious with a concept store called The Bank.

Located in the vault of the historic Amsterdamsche Bank on Rembrandtplein, The Bank was designed under the direction of Liz Muller, Starbucks’ director of global concept design. The 430 m² space was conceived as a laboratory for new coffee ideas, local design, and community events.

The interior mixes warmth with spectacle: repurposed Dutch oak, Delft blue tiles, a wall clad in recycled bicycle inner tubes, and a ceiling sculpture made from 1,876 hand-cut wooden blocks. More than 35 local artists and craftspeople contributed to the project.

The result is a Starbucks with a much stronger sense of place than usual. It feels less like a standard chain interior and more like a public room where you might settle into a chair, order a white mocha, and stay longer than planned.