The Inside Scoop
DonCafé House by Innarch
Kosovo is probably not the first place that pops into your mind when you think of trendy coffee shop décor or innovative cafe interiors. Yet Pristina, the capital and largest city in this landlocked central Balkan territory, boasts one of the most remarkable coffee houses in the world.
The DonCafé House is an elegant modern coffee house that beckons hipsters, local business people and international visitors with a unique design concept that mimics the sensation of being inside a crumpled bag of coffee beans.
A creative team from Innarch, a Kosovo-based design firm, combined coffee-inspired components to come up with this charming, whimsical cafe interior theme using European Beech (Fagus sylvatica) veneered Poplar (Poplas alba) plywood panels. The most notable thematic element of the café is the organic wall motif of plywood planks that graces the walls in a fluid, rolling topographical sequence. This voluminous shape provides cozy integrated seating and discreet modular areas within the overall space. The bar, tables and coffee bean shaped chandeliers are also all made of Beech-covered Poplar plywood.
The foremost feature of the DonCafé House interior, however, is its organically flowing wall. Constructed of 1,365 pieces of four centimeter thick Poplar plywood from Serbia, this element ripples gracefully throughout the space, functioning as seating in the main area as well as a display unit behind the bar. Organic variations in the modular panels contribute to the overall form and encourage the flow of the café's interior.
Poplar plywood was selected for this application due to its stability, light weight and moisture resistance. Each panel was individually fashioned and cut on a CNC machine prior to assembly. Due to the panel stability, even the largest of the Poplar panels remained stable and did not shift out of dimension during the fabrication and installation processes.
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Frequently asked questions
Which design firm created the DonCafé House interior in Pristina?+
A creative team from Innarch, a Kosovo-based design firm, designed the DonCafé House interior using a coffee-inspired concept that mimics the sensation of being inside a crumpled bag of coffee beans.
What wood materials were used to construct the DonCafé House interior?+
The café's walls, bar, tables and coffee bean shaped chandeliers were all made of European Beech (Fagus sylvatica) veneered Poplar (Populus alba) plywood panels.
How was the organic flowing wall at DonCafé House constructed?+
The wall was built from 1,365 pieces of four centimeter thick Poplar plywood sourced from Serbia. It ripples through the space, serving as seating in the main area and as a display unit behind the bar.
Why was Poplar plywood chosen for the DonCafé House project?+
Poplar plywood was selected for its stability, light weight and moisture resistance. Its stability ensured that even the largest panels did not shift out of dimension during fabrication and installation.
How were the plywood panels for DonCafé House fabricated?+
Each panel was individually fashioned and cut on a CNC machine prior to assembly, allowing organic variations in the modular panels that contribute to the overall flowing form of the interior.