By Marie-Antoinette Issa.
Images credit: Tomo Okai.
Seven days, seven wonders, seven chakras! Lucky things come in sevens including SevenH – the freshly unveiled creative precinct, where all things food, coffee and design just add up.
After years of sitting dormant, the building tucked away at 72 Helen Street in leafy Lane Cove North, has officially been reborn, renovated and reimagined – as a bustling hub where co-working, culture and caffeine collide.
The brains behind the operation are Sunny Liu from award-winning design studio Studio Hiyaku and Tin Jung Shea from Hatena Group, who have transformed the space into something of a local legend in the making.
From the outside, it’s sleek and minimalist. However, step inside, and SevenH is anything but quiet. There's a palpable buzz – part coffee grinder, part creative energy – as artists, entrepreneurs and innovative hospitality stars make themselves at home.
"SevenH was built with love,” says Sunny, who not only helped launch the project but designed and constructed the space himself with his Studio Hiyaku team. "Whether you’re a local, a coffee lover, looking for somewhere to hang out with friends or need a place to unwind on the weekend, SevenH was built for you.
"The state of the building when we took over was totally run down and had been abandoned and vacant for a few years,” he adds. "Everything from the collapsing front deck to the plumbing and electrical had to be redone from scratch.
"What stood out the most to me from designing shops all around Australia is that community is key,” Sunny continues. "The space was designed to be inclusive and community-oriented - encouraging collaboration between multiple businesses and creating a space for people to meet.
"Straight away, as you walk into the space, you’re greeted with plenty of outdoor seating and zones where people can start conversations. Our materials are raw and intentionally chosen - from a hand-poured concrete counter to solid timber and mosaic tiles, we hand-picked and shipped from Nagoya, Japan.”
For the public, the biggest drawcards are two of the seven stars in the SevenH sky – Commission Coffee and Daifuku.store.
At Commission, it’s caffeine with a side of culture. Adela Lam, who’s run top cafes in both Hong Kong and Australia, is pouring everything from rich black brews to silky matcha coffees made with tea sourced from Japan’s Shizuoka region.
Signature sips include the kuromame kinako latte – a velvety blend of roasted soybean powder and black soybeans – and the dreamy ichigo milk, which tastes like strawberries and cream with a chilled, nostalgic twist.
Right next door, things get even sweeter at Daifuku.store, where founder Chisato Nakayama and apprentice Miu Hayashi are turning mochi into magic. Inspired by the traditional kagami mochi her grandmother used to make in Hokkaido, Chisato’s menu reads like a delicious diary of her childhood: blueberry and white chocolate with cream cheese, matcha cream with sweet red bean and strawberry with azuki.
If you’re lucky, you might even catch a glimpse of the team prepping a sixth flavour using real mochikome – whole sticky rice – in a specialist mochi-making machine.
"Our mochi is made with care and joy,” says Chisato. "We wanted to share the feeling of Japanese tradition, but with a little playfulness, too.”
That same passion pulses through the rest of SevenH. From Nails by Moe (now Nail Studio Moment), to the soon-to-launch Makoto Tattoo and Epoch, a fashion label hailing from Osaka, every business here has its own creative flair. With room for more, Sunny and Tin hope to see the number of resident creatives grow. Seven may be the magic number, but there’s space for many more stars in this collective.
For Tin, the aim is simple: reduce the risks that often accompany creative entrepreneurship and increase the connections. "It can be a big leap for creatives to go from having an idea to starting a business,” he says. "SevenH is about making that leap a little less lonely and a lot more fun.
"The issue for most young creatives is the initial capital expenditure,” he explains. "We’ve done all the legwork of the fit-out and provide affordable rent conditions, so all they need is the idea and the drive to make it happen.
"Leases start from six months,” he adds. "The tenancies are turnkey environments - ready to go. We want our tenants to focus on running their business without being on the back foot from day one.”
If you’re wondering just how diverse the offerings can be, Sunny mentions they’ll even be selling Pokemon cards on-site. "All ideas are welcome,” he says with a grin.
Tin agrees: "The most exciting thing about the mix of tenants is community. We’ve got service businesses, retail, hospitality and they’re all young, motivated people who can grow with each other, bounce ideas and build something together.”
The duo first connected on a past restaurant project - Sunny as the architect, Tin managing the fit-out - and realised they shared the same vision.
"We complement each other,” Tin says. "Sunny has the design expertise and I bring the operational and concept side. SevenH is the result of that collaboration.”
With mochi that melts in your mouth, matcha that keeps you moving and a magical design that’s straight out of a Tokyo dream, SevenH is serving up more than just great coffee and cool brands.
