Ouroboros Tile

Canada Water Café was opened in September 2014 next to Canada Water station in South East London. It is the first independent café in the area serving delicately prepared comfort food in a warm and welcoming atmosphere, attracting locals as well as foodies from further afield. An eclectic mix of vintage furniture creates a dramatic contrast to the dominant amber colored Carrara marble on the floor and counter. The Ouroboros tiles have been used on nearly all exposed wall surfaces and patterns were created specific to the psychological spatial requirement. To create a welcoming feel when people pass by on their way to the station we created a smiley face in the center of the pattern, surrounded by a tree, birds and clouds (image 16). Seamlessly this pattern then changes from white to black for the kitchen splash back (images 8 and 11). The pattern is based on bubbles and ornaments that visually create distraction for the busy food preparation area. At the end of this long pattern (image 12) the bubble pattern merges in to a very intricate snake pattern where the stove and oven are situated. The most prominent tile surface is above the bar counter. In a carefully created Ouroboros font you can read the name of the café. Framed in various ornaments and symbols it is visible from the main sitting area and entrance. The main toilet and the kitchen washing up area have cheeky faces patterns (images 1 and 5) to charmingly interact with visitors. On busy kitchen washing up wall spaces we designed distracting patterns to blend the pattern into the background (image 14). Canada Water Café contains the first large Ouroboros tile installation and has been a great project to be involved in. The feedback from the client as well as the public has been very reassuring that the Ouroboros tiles are a unique stylish but also very simple way to create a bespoke pattern for any type of interior wall space.