The aim was to create something more unexpected than the nostalgic-lite, salvage-heavy coffee corners that are de rigueur in New York City, and the 40-m2 SoHo establishment that listens to the name Happy Bones Coffee hits the target straight on.
Responsible for the warm interpretation of 1980s high-tech are local outfits Ghislaine Viñas Interior Design and UM Project. Viñas limited the use of colour to the entrance canopy, opting for white walls in the central area inside. Lack of colour notwithstanding, a sense of energy emanates from an array of patterns, colliding lines and whitewashed brick.
If the entrance, with its colourful murals, is one bookend to the minimalist interior, holding it all together at the other end is the bar, which features storage and counter spaces made from industrial mesh, custom perforated panels, blackened steel and wood. François Chambard of UM Project describes it as ‘part machine, part console’.
During construction, the team discovered a boarded-up skylight. The unexpected gem was naturally worked into the design of the back wall and ceiling. Viñas says that it sorted of reminded her of a missing tooth, ‘which was funny, so we went with that’.
Photos Francis Dzikowski
