Jules Mark, Peter Davies and Caren Butler will open the café in the new South Christchurch Library (on the corner of Colombo St and Hunter Tce) when the Warren and Mahoney designed building is completed in August, this year.

“It’s a stunning building, looking out over the Heathcote River and given the fact that there’s no internal partitioning, the café will be very much a focus of it,” Mr Mark says.

It is the first time a café has been integrated into a South Island public library and special conditions have been set so that the preparation of food and beverages does not affect the library stock and environment.

“We’ve ordered the quietest coffee grinder and dishwasher we can find, all deliveries are to be made before the library opens each morning and food odours will be removed via a state-of-the-art extraction unit,” Mr Mark says.

Architect Andrew Barclay is designing the café’s workspace so that it blends with the rest of his and architect Scott Koopman’s plan for the library. “It will be incredibly minimalist, with one long unit housing everything a cafe requires,” Mr Mark says Library users will be able to sit in the cafe or take their purchases outside to relaxed reading areas. Meetings and functions held at the library and adjoining service centre may also be catered by the café.

Hilary Renfree, Christchurch City Libraries area manager says, “the owners of Cup were awarded the contract for the café because of the success of the Hackthorne Road venture, their commitment to local people and willingness to work within the constraints of a library setting.”