Coffee, technology and networking: can it get any better for ambitious Shenzhen residents? Perhaps, if you could take home a 3D printed figurine of yourself as a memento. Oh wait, 3D Coffice has that too.
Tucked along the polished first-floor corridor of KK Mall, 3D Coffice is hard to miss with its large sign and welcoming bright interior. And once you make your way to the second floor (where full-body 3D scanning and a photo booth await), there’s very little chance you’ll be leaving after one cup of coffee.
The flashy venue is not just an exercise in creative design – it’s a brilliant place to ponder the future of technology and get your caffeine fix while you muse.
Warm staff members will greet you at the front entrance, where there is ample space for a comfortable coffee break. But we recommend you keep on moving and head straight to the upper deck – that’s where the fun starts.
As you climb the winding staircase, an even larger, pearlescent area will open before you, resembling something out of The Fifth Element. Peculiar shapes and fun tech gimmicks sit prominently against the surrounding white abyss.
Eventually, someone will hand over a menu, pleasantly reorienting you. A cup of cappuccino goes for RMB32 (large) and the rare affogato will set you back RMB29. When it comes to food, there are quite a lot of items to explore, including Italian seafood pasta with mussels and calamari (RMB58), Australian rib-eye steak (RMB168) and cheese-baked rice with seafood and shredded coconut (RMB58).
Then again, we’re clearly not here for the food – there are too many awesome gadgets left in store. We head for the full-body 3D scanner first, which can create digital versions of people and turn them into printed figurines (starting from RMB888 and up).
If you’re not ready to drop the big bucks on a mini statuette of yourself, there’s still a multitude of tech-inspired fun to be had. Download the 3D Coffice dedicated app, for example, and you can use your uploaded 3D self to play dress up, create a cool dance video and more – all on your smartphone.
On the other side of the room is the 3D photo booth. There, in a matter of minutes, you can get an image of yourself made into a small crystal key chain for only RMB30. Needless to say, we are now the happy owners of some pretty self-centered gear.
Somewhere during the time we’re running around trying out all the cool gadgets, our food arrives, and we’re forced to take a break and sit down. This gives us a chance to catch up with Daniel Peng, the manager, who, upon noticing our diminishing attention span, tries to explain the restaurant concept in as few words as he can.
“We want to bring 3D technology to the people. We want them to not only eat and drink, but to look around and start wondering what this technology can do,” he says. “That’s why our venue is some sort of mix of a coffee shop and a cutting-edge exhibition hall.”
We jot down his words while munching on our 3D-printed cookies and give the place another once-over. It’s amazing what start-up culture has done to our city. Tech is everywhere, and now you can even taste it.
Price: RMB50-100 (not including 3D printing)
Who’s going: techies, coffee addicts
Good for: sharing ideas, 3D printing yourself
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