1. Record place, day and time of visit. Whats the weather like outside?

Is the caf
busy?
Costa coffee, Nottingham, 16:18, 16/1/2016.
Weather, overcast and dark approaching night.
This cafe is very much busy, although about 40% of the people in the cafe are waiting to
be served and would then leave.
2. What ranges of users are in the caf (age, sex, ethnicity etc); are they alone or in
groups?
To start, most of the users in this cafe are with others and sitting in at least groups of two
but most are in groups of three or more. There is quite the mix of ages in the cafe they
stretch from child to the elderly, although the largest amount of these people would be
between the ages of 16 to 30 and 50 to 70. There is a mix of ethnicities in the cafe the
most predominant would be white people at about 90% of the overall amount of people.
Concerning gender there is a very large amount of woman, at least 80% of people are
woman with an average ratio of 1: 3 men to woman on each table.
3. What are people doing? How would you judge their mood (from their facial
expression, body language etc)?
Most people surrounding me are ether on their phones or talking to each other. Also
without fault all of the people in are drinking a betherige and at least 30% are also eating
ether a cake of sandwich. There are mainly two types of conversations happening, the
first been a more serious convocation where in which the people talking are mostly
leaning in to be able to listen clearly but also to show to the other that they are
interested in the convocation. The other conversation happening is more of a chat in
which the participants are more layed back and using their hands to show features of the
conversation. In this type the participants are more than likely will lead to laughing in
which one person will start laughing then the others will join to, maybe in an attempt to
show that they where listening and are paying attention even when they are not. From all
of the people in the cafe there is a rough 60% to 40% split from people feeling happy to
just content. This also correlates to the type of conversation they are happening as from
what I can see the people in a more intense talk are more likely to be happy and show
this in their body language.
4. How would you describe the experience / atmosphere of the caf, and which
elements, including scale, furniture and lighting, create it? Do you think everyone
has the same experience explain your answer?
The atmosphere is a manic sense of movement and sound with a constant flow of both
staff and people moving through the cafe. As a overall experience, is very nice, once you
arrive from the cold outside you are greeted with warm interior with a constant breeze of
warm air flowing thought the space. There is a varied mixture of three types of chair in
which each is clothed in the colours of the company. Each type of chair is confinable
although the wooden chair aperies to be cold and almost uninviting for a prolonged seat.
There are two types of table used in the cafe the first and most common is the round
table at roughly one metre in diameter it is just big enough to seat four chairs around but
would become impractical if there were was four people trying to eat at the same time.
The lighting in this cafe is very nice with a combination of both spot down lighting to
provide the main bulk of the lighting and large shanderlear type lights in the main areas
pervading almost a warmer orange coloured light to each area. Although each area is
lighted equally, the overall amount of light is limited, making it not suitable for small

intricate tasks, but sufficient to work in with a laptop etc. Yes I do believe that all people
have the same experience as each area of the cafe is simply a copy of the other leading
to there been no competition for the best space.
5. How does the layout enable (or hamper) the activities, including movement (at
the counter and around the tables)? Note any problems.
Upon entering though one of the two large glass doors, the counter is located to your left.
This is a good decision as reduces the space required the space required for it and also
allows for good flow to the entrance. Although, when I was ordering, there was a small
wait for my drink in which me and others waited in the middle of the waiting space
leading it to become blocked. Upon leaving the counter there is three main sitting areas
on this floor, the first is split lengthways, in the centre there is a dividing wall. The third
area is has a slightly raided floor level and is curved around the stairs. Overall the space
is very well organised with large walk ways and ample room to move the chairs around
each table without blocking another table or the walkways.
6. Draw a sketch plan of the caf, including furniture. Mark where people are, who
they are and what they are doing.

7. In the light of the reading, explain the role of the caf as a Third Place.
The role of a cafe as a third place is most often left to be the go between for people ether
travelling to or from their workspace. It is to most people a place for social meetings and
a place which is non-threatening, by this I mean open to all and welcoming space. This
makes them the heart of the community in more modern communities as these are a
place to meet people and to relax before heading to usually a more formal and role
associated place, such as work.