Blum, Akaretler’s small coffee shop with a distinctive personality, is one of our favorites among our projects in 2017. Unlike conventional third-wave coffee shops, we have adopted the motto “coffee does not have to be masculine”,while we imagine Blum, which has a bright, feminine and spacious design – and we made all our design decisions accordingly.
The lighting that catches the eye in the middle of the space is designed with inspiration from the blooming trees. We gathered the heads of this lighting, which looks like a stylized tree, from the antiquities, and brought together this original, cheerful and functional design.
We highly care about the touches made to the ceiling, especially in small places. Ceilings and walls are very important to implement solutions that enable us to add personality to the place without losing space. This was our starting point when designing the ceilings of Blum. We wanted to feel like we were sitting in a garden in Provence, under a porch, so we hung small vines among the raw trees we used on the ceiling. The small spotlights we placed in between have achieved a bright, heartwarming, soft look.
Floors were obtained from wood removed from the facades of old wooden houses, as in many projects our ours. With Zigzag parquets, we wanted to remind the peaceful and serene state of a grandmother’s house. We showed how much we attach importance to sustainability using old materials. With the wood we used on the exterior, we aimed to give a warm message even to those who pass by the shop.
Today we want to tell you about one of our favorite corners of Blum. We wanted to make an area in the interior of the place, desirable with creative solutions for the guests that would not be preferred much under normal conditions. Similar to the Provence breeze we want to catch on the ceilings, we placed small bird cages in this area and decorated the walls with bird patterns. We have created an aesthetic, functional and unconventional seating solution with the swings placed in front of the bird cages.
Stairs are always challenging but very enjoyable sections to design in architectural projects. Designing stairs that are both useful, do not waste much space and integrate aesthetically with the place add value to the project. We also considered these when imagining the stairs solution for Blum. We deliberately chose the white wrought iron fences that we normally are not used to seeing indoors – since we imagine we are under a porch in Provence, would there be without white fences or birds?
Upon their request, we designed a merchandise unit for Blum inside. The interactive messaging unit, which we placed in this area where various designers’ products are sold, enabled us to create an area where guests can express themselves and to revive an ordinary wall.
Not only the architectural project and application of Blum, but also its logo was designed by our team. The minimal logo designed by Berk Büyüksezer from the No3 team completed the feminine state of the place with its soft lines, while the small coffee glass in it allowed us to describe the place in a single typography. We included the logo with different signage applications in the shop.
