The Kicking Horse Café is a renovation and revitalization of an existing café near Invermere, BC. The project's design includes updates to staff office space, back-of-house operations, commercial kitchen and the café coffee service area. It embodies the ethos of the Kicking Horse Coffee brand: “A café experience to wake up the world.”
The café was conceived of as a synthesis of four programmatic aspirations: a desire to reveal the operations of a world-class coffee house to visitors; the creation of a hospitality experience that fosters connection between patrons; an interpretive ‘lens’ to the spectacular landscape beyond, and as a curatorial space that highlights the sophistication of the coffee-making process.
To create an experience rooted in human connection and interaction, the space's atmosphere is defined by three theatrical design features: the coffee bar, which acts as a stage; the coffee bar canopy, which functions as a proscenium; and a wood screen, which acts as a conceptual ‘curtain.’
These three features create a seamless user experience as the coffee counter guides users into the space, mirroring the high function and quality of the coffee roasting process.
Bio MBAC is an architecture and design firm established in 1997 with offices in Calgary, AB and Nelson, BC.
We work at multiple scales and in a wide variety of physical and conceptual contexts, but always with the objective of developing robust and resilient designs that can adapt to their environments as they evolve.
Collaboration is central to our identity: it resonates as both a philosophy that structures our design process, as well as a practice for engaging the broader ecology of spaces, places and actions that together define the contemporary built environment.
Other prizes 2025 AFBC Award of Excellence in Interior Spaces for Kicking Horse Cafe 2025 AFBC Award of Excellence in Community / Civic Spaces for Hall Street Pier (with SOA) 2025 AZ Award of Excellence in Urban Infrastructure for Hall Street Pier (with SOA) 2025 AZ People's Choice Award in Urban Infrastructure for Hall Street Pier (with SOA) 2023 Canadian Architect Award of Excellence for Hall Street Pier (with SOA) 2023 Edmonton Mayor’s Urban Design Award Honorable Mention for Edmonton Valley Zoo Children’s Precinct 2023 Canadian Interiors Best of Canada Award for Kicking Horse Coffee Cafe 2022 Calgary Mayor’s Urban Design Award for Century Gardens Park Pavilions (with PFS Studio) 2022 Calgary Mayor’s Urban Design Award Honorable Mention for the Varsity Multi-Service Redevelopment 2020 Canada Wood Council Award for the Edmonton Valley Zoo Children’s Precinct 2020 Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Architectural Firm Award 2020 Progressive Architecture Award Honorable Mention for the Edmonton Valley Zoo Children’s Precinct 2020 National Urban Design Award for the 4th Street SW Underpass Enhancement 2020 Prairie Wood Design Award for the Courtyard House 2020 Prairie Wood Design Award for C-Square 2019 Calgary Mayor’s Urban Design Award for Sunalta Community Hub 2019 Calgary Mayor’s Urban Design Special Mention for the 4th Street SW Underpass Enhancement 2018 Prairie Design Award of Merit for C-Square 2017 Canadian Architect Award of Excellence for the Edmonton Valley Zoo Children’s Precinct 2017 Calgary Mayor’s Urban Design Award for the Civic District Public Realm Strategy 2017 Calgary Mayor’s Urban Design Award for C-Square
