A Harmonious Blend Of Spaces And Ambience At Café Creed | HERTZ ARCHITECTS

Posted On December 22 2022 Total Post Views :- 2596

Design inherently bears the potential to allow one to feel transported through its vocabulary and materiality, two facets that echo a larger spatial narrative. Located in Ellora Park – Vadodara, Café Creed enjoys a pivotal presence in the city’s urban nucleus. Conceptualised and executed over a period of 6 months, the premises witnessed a gut renovation that combined the indoors and outdoors to offer its patrons an engaging hospitality experience in the heart of the city. Sprawling across the ground level, the venue creates a harmonious blend of spaces and ambience at Café Creed, that enjoy intimate indoor areas and semi-alfresco zones that interact with the urban buzz that surrounds the café.

A Harmonious Blend Of Spaces And Ambience At Café Creed | Hertz Architects

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The conceptual inspiration was the primary catalyst in the conception of this venue. The core aspiration was to make patrons feel like they had been willfully carried away to the awe-inspiring streets of Santorini, Greece. It presented a visual from the relaxed winding pathways that dot the island and are often graced by dreamy cafés washed in hues of pristine white.

“The thought of the island recalls imagery that expresses serenity and comfort. We associate the design features almost immediately with white-washed structures, accents of colour, cobbled stone pathways, a play of levels, and the omnipresence of nature. We wished to distil this visual story into Café Creed’s look and feel,” explains Kambodia.

The indoor-outdoor relationship amidst the spaces has been celebrated with simplicity, urging locally sourced indigenous materials to be in the spotlight. The overarching design expression was adapted specifically for the site’s context and climatological profile while also planning the layout in relation to the pre-existent structural elements.

The entrance to the café sets the tone instantly, welcoming a passer-by and patron with doses of lushness that bathe the green wall of the passageway; it creates a zen sanctuary of sorts amid the city’s humdrum. It is from this point on that the omnipresent marble terrazzo flooring makes its way through the blueprint to unify the expanse seamlessly.

The external waiting area opens into an indoor dining space that portrays a sense of calm. The circulation path here is lined by an array of arches that stand as massive portals offering glimpses of the dining area and seating lounge.

The space is layered with accents of deep-stained wood, rattan, and sharp moulded black railings that border this section. The ceilings are a rugged composition of bamboo rafters finished in a white hue to lend the ambience a coastal identity.

Handwoven bamboo lights cascade down from the ceiling, washing the space in a soft illumination that engages in a place of shadows. Expansive raw-edge wood shelves and niches carved out in the walls create intentional nooks to display curated artefacts and curios.

A deep blue accent makes a cameo here in the form of upholstery, truly paying tribute to the visual mood board inspired by Santorini. The space houses high-top community tables, banquet dining tables, and a snug lounge that each enjoy the ambience like that of a seafront eatery.

The ceiling herein takes on a geometric identity with the matrix of metal members that form a structural grid upon which exposed bamboo rafters have been layered in alternating orientations. The bamboo lights also make a debut here, creating a charming space, especially at dusk.

The kitchen and café’s pantry connect to the outdoor lounge in the form of a large circular opening, thus creating a service window. The open area in front of the same lends itself flexibly to be utilised for live performances, allowing the space to be used diversely for gatherings and congregations.

The lounge stays connected to the city’s bustling energy and yet manages to create a secluded oasis with the introduction of the folding bamboo blinds that add an earthy rawness to the venue.

At Café Creed, the design inspiration didn’t solely lie in bringing an experience of a faraway place to the venue and its end-users. Instead, it also lay in envisioning how the materials can be sourced locally and ethically to weave together the ambience in the best possible way.

FACT FILE

Designed by : Hertz Architects

Project Type : Restaurant/Cafes

Project Name : The Sawan’s Café Creed

Location : Vadodara, Gujarat

Year Built : January 2022

Duration of project : 4 months

Project Size : 2,090 Sq.ft

Project Cost : 15 Lac

Principal Architects : Ar. Harshal Patel, Ar. Ronak Kambodia, Ar. Tushar Mhaiskar & Ar. Zain Nizami

Team Design Credits : ID. Nishi Shah Pal & ID. Aneree Patel

Photograph Courtesy : Tejas Shah Photography