Café with a courtyardCafé with a courtyard

The ground-floor space in an old building came with high vaulted ceilings, brick walls and a door to the courtyard. The owners wanted a café where people drink coffee at the counter in the morning, work on a laptop in the afternoon and come back with friends for dinner.

I divided the room into three zones, each with its own pace: a bar counter by the entrance, a long communal table in the centre and quiet tables by the courtyard windows. The kitchen is half-open — visible through a tiled opening, while the noise and smells stay inside.

The brick was cleaned and left as found, then paired with walnut panelling, terrazzo tabletops and glazed tiles in a deep green. The light shifts through the day: mornings belong to the courtyard and the tall windows, evenings to low pendants over the tables and uplighting on the vaults.

The room handles a full house without the din, and the courtyard has become an extension of the interior: the same chairs, the same light, the same plants in clay pots.

Materials

• original brickwork
• solid walnut
• handmade glazed tiles
• terrazzo
• leather and linen