How pink cups became a St Georges Terrace staple: barista Luke Arnold marks a decade of Telegram Coffee

From judges to company directors, council workers to property developers; hundreds from all walks of life pass through the doors of Telegram Coffee each day, and Luke Arnold probably knows the coffee order of every single one. The end of 2025 marked 10 years since the now-bustling coffee shop first wheeled open its wooden vault doors. In a 2015 interview the mark the occasion, Mr Arnold told The West Australian he hoped the venue would eventually become a commercial haven for nearby workers. A quick game of who’s who on any garden variety weekday at the State Buildings haunt would lead any fair-minded person to say confidently, that aspiration has been achieved. Even outside the historic walls, the coffee shop’s blush-pink cups— an homage to the colour sported on urgent telegrams in Australia during the 1900s — have grown to become an easily recognisable accessory in the hands of nine-to-fivers on St Georges Terrace. “It’s not lost on me that there is no guarantee or requirement for people to have to come to Telegram each day,” Mr Arnold told The West Australian. “That they choose to come to visit us is very special and is such a major factor in why we are still here.” Adrian Fini’s $100 million restoration of the buildings on the corner of Barrack Street and the Terrace has created arguably one of the city’s most tasteful hospitality precincts. And Telegram has been one of its anchor tenants since. Then a barista running Mini Espresso — a small coffee shop in tourist haven London Court — Mr Arnold took a chance in accepting an offer from the well-known property developer in 2012 to consider, quite literally, setting up shop elsewhere. “It was pretty organic,” he recalls. “At that time it was such a thrill to even be able to walk through the buildings and see what the vision was, and would become. That walk through started a conversation that resulted in Telegram becoming a reality.” Mr Arnold agreed, and set about patiently combing through potential inspiration for his new coffee shop. “I originally had another name intended for it, but that name had no relevance to these buildings, and it was just like a nice name but a generic name,” he said. “And then I started to think more about what these buildings are, what they’ve been, what their purposes have been throughout the years. And so, with more consideration to that, I wanted to come up with a name that people could shorten, that people could use as a full length name.” Despite coffee bean prices notching record highs over the past 12 months, you can still snag a flat white at Telegram for under $5. “I’m really proud of the reputation that Telegram has but... I don’t think I’m the best coffee maker or anything like that. I try and look after people as well as possible,” Mr Arnold responds when asked why he thinks Telegram has gained the profile it has. “And I don’t even think that I’m the best at that, but I would like to try and be as hospitable and sincere and kind as possible.”