Structure agency MEE Studio has designed the interiors and bespoke wood furnishings for a cafe and boutique within the Nikolaj Kunsthal artwork gallery inside an outdated church.
The municipality-run gallery, which is about in a deconsecrated church in central Copenhagen, requested MEE Studio to design a „energetic and useful“ area.
Earlier than designing the inside areas, which function heat and tactile supplies corresponding to copper and wooden, the rooms in Nikolaj Kunsthal first needed to be restored.
„The areas had been used for varied functions because the Eighties together with artwork installations and different altering makes use of,“ MEE Studio founder Morten Emil Engel advised Dezeen.
„This has left the areas with remnants of ad-hoc electrical wiring, bricked-up arches, blocked-off home windows and arbitrary lighting. Moreover, there was no water provide or plumbing within the areas that now have the cafe.“
The studio reestablished the grand door and window openings within the area and changed the outdated acrylic paint with breathable lime-based paint, whereas additionally including acoustic plaster to enhance the acoustics of the areas.
On the centre of the cafe, Engel created a protracted bar that additionally capabilities as a ticket counter and is created from strong oak wooden.
Wooden was additionally used for all the opposite furnishings, together with benches, tables and sculptural cabinets, which Engel designed particularly for the venture utilizing European oak from sustainable forestry.
„I needed the benches to reference church benches – a bit chunky and heavy,“ he stated. „The church structure may be very sturdy with the church tower having two-metre thick partitions. So the furnishings needed to have some substance to them.“
Engel additionally aimed to present the items a up to date really feel by fusing their „heavy look“ with extra up to date parts.
„All of the furnishings has seen joinery and tectonics in fumed oak, which permits the consumer to see how they’re made and assembled,“ he stated.
„I added some ornamental inlays within the bar counter and boutique cabinets. Inlays had been historically used as a approach of repairing wooden and I needed to symbolise that restore might be stunning and sustainable,“ he added.
„On this approach, it’s sending the message that the furnishings ought to have a protracted life and be repaired if it ages.“
Behind the central bar, a copper backsplash provides an eyecatching materials element along with the matching sink and worktops, which had been designed in reference to the roof of the outdated church.
„As many conventional buildings in Copenhagen, the roof of St Nikolaj Church is made with conventional copper roofing, which has aged to a wealthy inexperienced patina over time,“ Engel stated.
„I needed to reference the present materials palate of the church however use it in a brand new approach. So the kitchen options worktops, sinks and backsplash in uncooked untreated copper, which is able to evolve superbly with time.“
The white partitions of the cafe and retailer had been contrasted with not simply the copper and wooden but additionally a burgundy crimson cloth designed by designer Raf Simons for Kvadrat, which was used for the cushions and backs of the sofas and chairs.
The color was a nod to a number of the area’s unique color however might additionally assist disguise crimson wine spills within the cafe.
„Oakwood was already used all through the church so it appeared pure to make use of oak as a cloth,“ he defined.
„There was additionally the burgundy crimson paint which had been used initially for some woodwork, for example, the steps within the tower and the ceiling in what’s now the cafe,“ he added.
„So it appears pure to work with an interpretation of the burgundy crimson for the colour of the cushions. I matched the burgundy crimson to a improbable Kvadrat textile designed by Raf Simons and it labored in offering vibrancy, but additionally as a sensible color in a restaurant the place crimson wine is served.“
In addition to the bespoke furnishings items, the area was additionally embellished with fastidiously chosen artworks which have ties to the town of Copenhagen.
„Mercury (socks) is {a photograph} by the well-known Danish/Norwegian artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset from a sequence of classical sculptures by the world-famous Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen,“ Engel defined.
„The Thorvaldsen Museum is situated only some minutes away from Nikolaj Kunsthal, so the work relates each to artwork from the nineteenth century and up to date artwork from the twenty first century which is what you discover in Nikolaj Kunsthal.“
Different latest inside tasks in Copenhagen embody Space10’s headquarters, which has a kiosk-like design library, and the cafe and store design for Designmuseum Denmark by OEO Studio.
The pictures is by Paolo Galgani.
