Gradated lava stone flooring and suspended planet-like orbs feature at the Cafe Nuances coffee shop in Paris, which was created by Dezeen Awards-nominated studio Uchronia.
Located on the city’s Rue de la Tremoille, the coffee shop is the third Uchronia-designed branch for Parisian coffee roaster Cafe Nuances.
The one-room shop is fronted by a bright white facade in stark contrast to its vivid-hued interior.
Studio founder Julien Sebban was informed by the landscapes he experienced on a recent trip to Tunisia when creating the cafe’s walls and lava stone flooring, which are decorated in ombre swathes of red, orange and blue.
“They reminded him of the sunsets in the Tunisian desert – a veritable ode to the gentleness of summer days,” said the studio, known for its playfully eclectic designs and shortlisted in the emerging interior designer category at this year’s upcoming Dezeen Awards.
The coffee shop’s entrance is flanked by two bright red benches topped with metallic-effect fabric – one curved, and the other straight.
Low-slung interlocking tables, which can double as stools, can be reconfigured to suit customers’ needs.
Uchronia placed a chunky stainless steel counter at the back of the intimate cafe, which is overlooked by deep orange lacquered shelving – a design element found in the other two Cafe Nuances outlets.
“This new address picks up on the codes present in the second shop, accentuating the [coffee] brand’s colourful, futuristic retro universe,” explained the studio.
A cluster of striking, spherical objects were finished in the same colours as the rest of the space and suspended from the reflective ceiling.
“Unlike [this branch’s] two big sisters, whose interiors feature striated shapes, here, the poly mirror tiles are complemented by half-spheres in saturated colours, accentuating the dreamlike feel of the coffee shop,” continued Uchronia.
“They create the illusion of floating balls, which could be mistaken for Saturn.”
The studio previously livened up a Haussman-era Paris apartment for a pair of jewellery designers with furniture crafted to nod to the appearance of precious stones.
Elsewhere, Canadian design duo Julia Jamrozik and Coryn Kempster created a sky-blue coffee shop in a century-old house in Buffalo, New York, with an optical illusion staircase.
The photography is by Félix Dol Maillot.
