How does a themed cafe avoid dating?

By tying the theme to the layout rather than to surfaces. An image hung on a wall dates within a few years; the shape of the entrance, where the light comes from and how the seating is organised do not. Here the theme decides the shopfront, the wayfinding lines in the floor and the lit niches in the walls. When the visual content changes, the architecture stays.

How is safety handled in a dark venue?

By giving the light from the floor rather than the ceiling. Here the walking route, the areas in front of doors and the changes in level are marked with lit lines set into the floor. Raising the ceiling lighting does the same job but ends the atmosphere. The three ceiling light types are also on separate circuits, so full light can be switched on for cleaning and service hours.

How is a windowless room resolved?

By building lit frames on the blind wall at the rhythm of real windows. When the size and spacing match a real run of windows the eye reads that rhythm as windows and the compression of a long stay eases. Making the seating one-directional also keeps half of that wall from going to waste.

Do you work on venues abroad?

Yes, this project was prepared for France. The drawings and visuals are ours. Fire, escape and electrical rules differ in every country, so we run that part together with the architect of record or contractor on the ground.

Cafe and restaurant architecture · France

We designed a science-fiction themed cafe in France.

The hard part of a themed venue is not finding the theme but making it operable. Below we set out why the shell was closed, why the light was brought down to the floor, and which operating problem each apparently decorative element solves.

Location: France
Space type: Themed cafe over two levels with a mezzanine
Scope: Interior design, shopfront, lighting layout and visualisation
Stage: Design

Design principle

A theme applied to a surface as an image dates within six months. A theme carried by the entrance, the light and the seating layout works until the venue closes.

Portholes instead of a shopfront

In a themed venue the greatest risk is the front. A transparent shopfront destroys the dark interior atmosphere in daylight, while a closed front shows nothing of what is inside.

So we closed the front completely and cut two large polygonal windows into it. The windows show the interior not as a whole but as two selected frames: a passer-by does not see the venue, they see a scene from it.

The windows were given lit surrounds. Because the rest of the front is dark and matt, at night only those two frames read, and the window does the work a sign would otherwise do.

Two polygonal windows in the dark shopfront with the glazed door between them, the surrounds lit and the front running down to the pavement. — Two polygonal windows in the dark shopfront with the glazed door between them, the window surrounds lit.

Approaching from the corner

Head-on the front is symmetrical, but people rarely approach a venue head-on. Seen from the corner, the lit surrounds of the windows overlap in perspective and the front reads longer.

A vertical light box was set beside the door. It is the only upright surface visible to someone walking parallel to the front; a horizontal sign would be invisible from that angle.

The front runs down to the ground with no plinth. Starting on the same plane as the pavement makes the venue look as though it stands in the street, and that is how the closed box of the theme gains its weight.

The front from the corner, the lit window surrounds overlapping in perspective and a vertical light box beside the door. — The front seen from the corner, the lit window surrounds overlapping in perspective and a vertical light box beside the door.

The welcome desk

The first volume past the door was deliberately left empty. In a themed venue the first thing a guest should do is look, not sit; if seating starts at the door the theme is never noticed.

Only a long desk was placed in that void. It is a welcome point rather than a till: the size of the party is taken here and the guest is directed to a zone from here.

The lettering surface on the desk was left plain white. Because every surface around it is dark and textured, the single flat white surface pulls the eye automatically and no directional signage is needed.

The long welcome desk in the empty volume past the entrance, its lettering surface plain white against a dark textured wall. — The long welcome desk in the empty volume past the entrance, with a dark textured wall and circuit pattern behind it.

The bar and the mezzanine

The bar was moved to the long side of the ground floor, beneath the mezzanine. The underside of a mezzanine produces a low-ceilinged band: cramped for seating, but the right dimension for standing service.

The bar body is lit from within. In a dark room, taking the light source into the furniture has two advantages over lighting from the ceiling: no shadows form, and the furniture announces its own position.

A large graphic was placed on the wall behind the bar. It is the only surface closing the end of the room; without it, a deep room would read as an indefinite tunnel ending in darkness.

The bar beneath the mezzanine, its body lit from within and a large graphic on the wall behind it.

Guests who fetch their own drinks

A separate drinks band was built beside the bar: a chiller cabinet, a vending unit and a single collection window. That band empties the bar queue, and a guest who only wants a drink never approaches the bar.

The ceiling above the band was finished with a circuit pattern that stops where the band stops. That break overhead describes, from above, which service is given where on the ground floor.

Washroom wayfinding sits at the end of the same band as a yellow lit figure. In a dark venue, direction is given with colour rather than signage; this is the only yellow surface in the room.

The drinks band of chiller cabinet, vending unit and collection window, the yellow lit wayfinding figure at its end and a circuit pattern overhead. — The drinks band of chiller cabinet, vending unit and collection window, with the yellow lit wayfinding figure at its end.

The hexagonal niches

The walls were not left flat; they were divided into lit hexagonal niches. Each niche is a display case, taking packaged goods, a collection piece or a single figure.

This is how the second revenue line of a themed venue gets tied into the architecture. A product shelf added afterwards as a stand breaks the atmosphere; when the niche itself is the shelf, the product becomes part of the theme.

The niches are lit from behind the product. A case lit from behind reflects less in the glass than one lit from the front, and in a dark room that is the only way the product can be seen.

Lit hexagonal niches in the wall holding packaged goods and a figure, with a group of high stools in front. — Lit hexagonal niches in the wall holding packaged goods and a figure, with a group of stools in front.

Windows in a room that has none

The upper room has no window to the outside. To break the compression a windowless room creates over a long stay, screens were set into lit frames along the wall.

The size and spacing of the frames were kept the same as a real run of windows. The brain reads that rhythm as windows; what the content shows is a second question, and what matters is that the wall stops being blind.

There are banquettes rather than tables beneath the screens. The seating was built one-directional so that nobody sits with their back to the screens; in a two-sided layout half of that wall would be wasted.

Screens in lit frames repeating the rhythm of windows in the upper room, with one-directional seating beneath them.

Bringing the light down to the floor

The first problem a dark venue has to solve is safety. Raising the ceiling light kills the atmosphere, so we took the wayfinding and safety light down to the floor. The line pattern in the floor shows the walking route, the areas in front of doors and the changes in level.

The same lines describe the edge of the seating zones. Tables do not cross the line, so when the operation wants to add tables on a busy day the limit the floor sets stays visible.

There are only three light types overhead: white panels, blue bands and colour strips. The panels are working light, the bands wayfinding, the strips atmosphere. Because all three are on separate circuits, the venue can run at three settings — daytime service, evening service and events.

Lit lines in the floor describing the walking route and the seating edge, with the colour ceiling strip on the right.

Screens set into a banquette table, with the run of lit window frames behind.

On the upper axis, blue ceiling bands and the floor line pattern point the same way.

A lit circuit-pattern panel set onto the column in the middle of the room.

Decisions and common mistakes

Item	Settled in the design	Common mistake
Shopfront	The shell was closed and two polygonal windows show selected scenes.	A transparent shopfront is kept and the daytime atmosphere disappears.
Safety light	Wayfinding and safety light were taken to the floor so the ceiling could stay dark.	The ceiling lighting is raised and the theme is lost on day one.
Product shelving	Product was taken into lit hexagonal niches as part of the architecture.	A stand is added afterwards and the atmosphere breaks.
Windowless room	Lit frames were built at window rhythm and the seating made one-directional.	The wall is left blind and a long stay feels compressed.
Lighting scenes	Panels, bands and strips are on separate circuits, allowing three settings.	One circuit is run and the venue looks the same by day and by night.

Frequently asked

How does a themed cafe avoid dating?: By tying the theme to the layout rather than to surfaces. An image hung on a wall dates within a few years; the shape of the entrance, where the light comes from and how the seating is organised do not. Here the theme decides the shopfront, the wayfinding lines in the floor and the lit niches in the walls. When the visual content changes, the architecture stays.
How is safety handled in a dark venue?: By giving the light from the floor rather than the ceiling. Here the walking route, the areas in front of doors and the changes in level are marked with lit lines set into the floor. Raising the ceiling lighting does the same job but ends the atmosphere. The three ceiling light types are also on separate circuits, so full light can be switched on for cleaning and service hours.
How is a windowless room resolved?: By building lit frames on the blind wall at the rhythm of real windows. When the size and spacing match a real run of windows the eye reads that rhythm as windows and the compression of a long stay eases. Making the seating one-directional also keeps half of that wall from going to waste.
Do you work on venues abroad?: Yes, this project was prepared for France. The drawings and visuals are ours. Fire, escape and electrical rules differ in every country, so we run that part together with the architect of record or contractor on the ground.

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