The tiny bar named Chez became a melting pot in the middle of Darmstadt, a city in the south of Germany. The challenge to design this bar was to realise everything what a bar needs and represent on precisely 23 sq.m. The design concept should combine bar and storage area. Therefor heavy duty racks were chosen to act also as a storage in the bar. These special shelves offer surface area for all the beverages and glasses.

The shelves and the walls act perfectly together and give this bar an industrial character. While entering, you recognize immediately that the dark grey counter and the switch over to the toilet forms the center of the bar. This huge piece was built out of Aleppo Pine and lets you adumbrate the pattern of the wood, although it’s dark lacquered. The only warm and organic spot in the bar is the top oft he counter. It consists of oak tree and is the eye catcher, just as the flashy orange Gaggia coffee machine. The light source was chosen in the style of the cement/concrete walls – simple cement light bolds which spend light above the counter. Simple clip lamps were fixed on the shelves.

why the friday is a young German design studio, which is primary specialized in modern an minimalist product and interior design. Product designer Ruben Löbbert and interior designer Annika Jung founded the studio in 2012 in Darmstadt, Germany.

Design: why the friday
Photography: Christian Heyse