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Architects
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Location
Trg Kralja Aleksandra Ujedinitelja, Niš, Serbia -
Design Team
Andreja Budjevac, Saša Budjevac, Miljana Ignjatović -
Wall Art
Jelena Ilić -
Area
105.0 m2 -
Project Year
2014 -
Photographs
Text description provided by the architects. Arhitektura Budjevac, an architectural design studio based in Serbia, had the task to create a fresh looking coffee shop, the first one of the future “Stock Coffee” franchise. In order to transform a former retail space into a coffee shop, they removed all unnecessary elements of the interior, exposing its concrete ceiling, walls, beams and columns.
Coffee shop consists of two L-shaped spaces, one above the other, connected visually and spatially by an atrium. A large wall, 10 meters long and 5 meters high, stretches through the whole coffee shop and is used as a blackboard: its hand-drawn decorations are made by the young Serbian artist Jelena Ilić. This concept of wall art is the result of collaboration between the design studio and the artist. In order to water down the space and give a welcoming note, wood is integrated in some of the walls, alongside with the raw and conspicuous concrete elements.
The furniture is composed in a way to make the coffee shop more relaxed and informal. Some old, metal sewer pipes are also left visible, going through both stories, but covered with special rubber-like insulation for a softer look. The entire coffee shop spreads on 105 sqm and has around 50 seats. The furniture enhances functional and visual variety. Thonet chairs dominating the space are painted black with some of them in beige tone, similar to espresso foam. Euro palettes are customized to serve as a low-seating coffee tables, adding a custom touch to the seating. The lighting, dominated by metal spot reflectors and combined with natural looking pendants made of paper, brings a softer edge to the whole ambiance and fits the overall industrial look. As a little social media experiment in the era of „selfies“, catchy writings are visible on the bathroom mirrors. This incites many clients to take selfies and share them on social media thus making an original marketing trick.
