University Brief
Batch Production
CNC Machining | Glass Casting | Lampworking
Solid Elm | Brass | Borosilicate Glass | Expanded Cork
Affirmative Design
A single-serve coffee system designed for the office.
The Problem
The project’s inspiration struck in an office: a colleague was using a portable coffee maker designed for the outdoors at their desk. This felt super misplaced an office environment.
This highlighted a gap:
Office coffee often prioritises convenience over quality, a sense of ownership, and a meaningful experience.
Proposed Solution
This project builds on my wider practice exploring how objects:
gain value through repeated use
shape behaviour over time
support emotional engagement through interaction
Transforming coffee-making into a 2–5 minute ritual that resets focus, supports wellbeing and gives everyone an equal break.
For a worthwhile and restorative break achieved through cognitive detachment from work, prioritising sensory engagement, was key.
Glass allows the user to observe the filtration process and the coffee as it drips through
The Loth balancing spoon gives the user a moment of stillness, focussing on the weight of the coffee.
Quality, solid materials were
01
Measure: a calibrated spoon replaces digital precision with tactile repeatability.
02
Pause: the pour slows attention through bloom, drip, heat, and aroma.
03
Return: Moment creates permission for a break, and the brew carries the user back into work.
Prototypes
Form analysis
Borosilicate prototyping
Many failures to fix
Paper, PLA, glass, ceramics
Many, many iterations
Ergonomic and functional testing
Off the CNC
Low fi arrangement explorations
Inspired by the Hario V60, made for the office.
Balancing worthwhile experiential friction without faff.
I <3 the world of glass and the vast differences in processes, treatments, handling and annealing.
Sustainability:
Elm base: Locally grown and felled hardwood which is soft enough to mark with continuous use.
Cork sleeve: Bound by its own natural suberin and without additives, making it safely biodegradable.
Borosilicate: Recyclable when kept in a closed-loop system which Moment can facilitate.
Brass: Infinitely recyclable and patinates beautifully over time.
Moment understands that accidents happen and has developed the concept of ‘Bits for Breaks’, whereby users can return a broken part for a discount on a replacement.
Returned pieces are repaired, repurposed or recycled. Every component is available individually, so you only ever replace what is needed.
Every component is made to last, and to end safely when it doesn't.
Sustainability