Coffee shop, gallery, bookshop, juice bar, and… marketing agency? Coffee Concepts in Amsterdam’s Oud Zuid (Old South) district is certainly a novel combination of services under one roof, founded by sisters Fabienne and Pelou and their friend Tedje. Why limit the business when your available space and expertise can offer so much more? The marketing specialists have been on a barista course to bone up on the bean grinding, using a mezzanine level of their business premises to house a serving counter clad in the same chunky wooden herringbone as the floor, with the remainder of the public area devoted to relaxed café lounge seating.

In the corner there’s a small library stocking a selection of coffee table books; the bookcase, complete with matching ladder, was custom-designed by Neef Louis in Amsterdam-Noord. The walls have been made available as an exhibition space, and for the first few months of Coffee Concepts it’s hosting the intricate work of Skulljan, aka Alljan Moehamad. With all that going on upstairs, it’s a testament to the three ladies that any work gets done in the basement office – they must be more disciplined than us. Is it time for a coffee break yet?