How do we create an interior experience and brand unique enough to stand out among another dozen similar businesses crowded on the same popular street of Glyfada? How do we lure customers away from their existing hangouts and establish Nest as their new sanctuary? How do we unite the visions of our clients, six partners with very different backgrounds and ideas?
A playful elegant brand and restaurant design from logo, menus, uniforms and plates, to bespoke furniture, custom animal wallpapers, organic materials and patterns. Every design aspect supports and celebrates Nest as a flexible retreat for customers looking to recharge, connect or be entertained, throughout the day and into the evening, again and again.
With a noticeably differentiated identity, and almost instantly after its opening, Nest affirmed it had all the ingredients for success. The business started booming, absorbing a significant part of the area’s clientele, on a repeat basis. Nest became well positioned, standing out among the competition and scoring excellent reviews with special features in all city guides.
To separate itself from the austere and off-the-shelf styles of the competition, Nest would have to be amusing, casual, yet chic, with distinctive customisations. Operationally it would have to offer all-day services, from coffee to breakfast-lunch-dinner to an evening lounge bar with a DJ, consequently requiring the appropriate spatial planning and lighting to cater for this.
As the name Nest implies, we wanted the users to experience a warm nurturing feeling upon entering the café-restaurant. The design concept was built around the wonderful “personalities” found in the animal kingdom (a metaphorical reflection of the diverse clientele of the area and our 6 clients). We integrated natural elements such as grainy wood, animal silhouettes, and organic patterns within a contemporary setting of bold blacks, hard metals and concrete.
Light natural oak walls generate an inviting backdrop. But attention is really sparked on the opposite side. Our custom-designed wallpaper, a mural that explodes across 3 levels, injects a sense of movement and energy. Roaming mammals, insects and birds, in unrealistic contradicting dimensions, peeking out behind objects and running up stairs, evoke a surreal experience and sense of irony. Mysterious shadows are cast by custom-made metal screens, which use an enlarged version of the abstract “animal footprint” pattern found on the wallpaper.
A bespoke 12-metre long black Corian bar, tailormade wooden sofas upholstered in processed linen, custom-designed tables with characteristic bases, glossy dining chairs by Philippe Starck (Driade), and sculptural shaped chairs and bar stools by Konstantin Grcic (Magis) give further dimension and form in an otherwise linear space. Tom Dixon pendant lights create a glowing ambience, drawing attention to bars and designating seating areas. Various light fixtures from Modular serve other functions, practical and mood-setting, depending on the time of day.
We designed a typographic logo in small caps using a typeface with a handwritten-on-chalkboard 3D effect. With casual typography, wildlife figures and leather textured paper for printed material, Nest’s identity started developing into a living, approachable brand. Visual applications of the brand identity included Nest’s signage, business cards, letterheads, envelopes, compliments slips, bill folders, menus, placemats, coasters, plates, uniforms, adverts, flyers and complimentary items like matchboxes.
An atmospheric lounge area is designed on the upper floor. The bar, which incorporates a DJ booth, dips and forms a base for a long built-in corner sofa. Oversized comfortable beanbag chairs by Marcel Wanders (Moooi) and a black metal feature fireplace protruding from the wooden wall work to create an exclusive private lounge vibe.
Taking a twist on the general theme by converting the wallpaper design to a bold contrasting palette of hot pink and black, the mix-gender restrooms bring an element of surprise. Becoming a feature in themselves they serve as an additional “unconventional” meeting place.
Efficient project coordination, procurement of all furniture, fixtures and lighting, supervision in the manufacturing of all our bespoke designs, and overseeing all detailing of the work in progress, ensured the high quality and timely completion of this restaurant design.
A stylish “themed” design with personality and nice flavours win impressions at the new cafe-bar-restaurant of Glyfada. A space decorated in common black-grey shades can, with the appropriate design interventions, become distinctive: glossy vinyl and arachnoid-shaped chairs, a bar that dips into a low table, pouf armchairs on the upper floor which you can sink into opposite the fireplace. The wallpaper is a highlight feature, in which animals of extraordinary dimensions roam freely e.g. behind the bar you can find a tiny elephant hiding, while just a bit further you'll see a giant bunny... The recent spectacular rise of all-day venues creates a "demand" for a cohesive concept in terms of music, design and menu - and "Nest" is the right example of that.
- Critic Review
