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Architects: Viet D Architects
- Area: 135 m²
- Year: 2020
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Photographs:Tri Le
Text description provided by the architects. The 59 is a brand new coffee shop, which was converted from an old building from the 70s. Unlike the other café with a modern, up-to-date style that we usually catch in Da Nang- a crowded city, The 59 is hidden at the end of a small alley on Hai Phong street.
People may ask, what makes The 59 stand out amongst several other cafe? Let us answer. With a delicate design and an owner as a devoted architecture, the old house with gray concrete at the end of the alley eventually turns into a warm, friendly coffee shop, which follows the retro style.
According to the design company Viet-D, this old building has always been there since the 70s, which was approximately a decade ago. However, this ancient, bulky house was rarely used by the owner. In fact, despite having up to 3 floors, yet only few rooms were rented, and the others just remained untouched for several years.
After a while, as the company discovered the beauty of a gorgeous temple behind the building, they came to the decision to uninstall the whole wall at the back, exposing the precious view of that ancient temple. Although the ideal of converting this old building into a coffee shop was to serve the needs of the young generation, yet the designer wished to not destroy the memories of the family with this house.
Therefore, they decided to remain old materials such as wash stones, ceramic tile and place them next to new materials, which are highly contrasted with concrete and steel. By doing this as meticulous as possible, the group of architectures successfully created plenty features as well as certain feelings when it comes to the concept of the café. For instance, at very first sight, we can catch right away something pretty cool about this voluminous, grey building, yet still contains a nostalgic feeling of the leftover...
Moreover, being right under a big canopy of leaves brings The 59 an enormous advantage. It contributes to build up a green area in front of the café, which connects with the garden as well as gives the customers an impression of an environment-friendly coffee shop. Furthermore, the owner did not forget to utilize his family’s old items, such as the camera, cassette,... They are all placed in every small corner in the café, which is meant to create a vintage theme and also to make sure that the connection between spaces inside the café is tight.
