How do you quickly convey the concept of ‘healthy, organic, natural and easy-going’ in one sweeping statement? For Sla, a salad bar with a difference in Amsterdam, the answer was a kas or ‘glasshouse’.
The brainchild of Nina Pierson and Jop van de Graaf, Sla serves healthy salads, juices, soups and snacks. It’s hard to believe the rich chocolate tart contains no sugar, but just ask them and they’ll tell you the full list of ingredients. This transparency is elucidated in the interior design, which is based on the idea of a glasshouse. There’s also a real greenhouse in the Meisjes van de Bloemen-designed garden, in which the team grows its own herbs and vegetables.
The design concept was developed with young Dutch duo Dax Roll and Joyce Urbanus of Nicemakers, who were given a strict brief by Pierson and Van de Graaf. Among other requests, the counter was to be the ‘heart’ of the interior, and the scheme needed to be easily replicable for future Sla locations.
The designers were triggered by elements from near and far: Hortus Botanicus, one of the oldest botanical gardens in the world located in centre of Amsterdam, and rooftop gardens in New York that highlight the desire for greenery in a busy city.
The interior also features illustrations by Milou Maass and artworks by Elisabeth Leerssen, which Pierson says ‘provide the location with an extra “organic” touch’. Another Sla initiative is the Sla Lab, ‘the heart of the home’, in which recipes are nutted out and talks and workshops take place.
Photos Teska Overbeeke