D.E. Café is the coffee house concept of the popular Dutch coffee brand Douwe Egberts. Ninetynine was commissioned to develop a completely new interior concept for D.E. Café. The first realisation of the concept is located in Westfield Mall of the Netherlands, a newly opened shopping centre in Leidschendam.
Design concept Pavilion D.E. Café is situated on one of the so-called nodes that float in the middle of one of the mall’s passageways. The ellipse-shaped floor plan is a result of the remarkable architecture of the mall, which is characterised by wavy curved lines. The 160 sqm area is in a very prominent location in the mall, which immediately led to the biggest design challenge: the structure of the pavilion had to be very transparent to preserve all the sight-lines to the surrounding retail units, while also creating a shelter for the intimate D.E. Café experience inside.
To achieve this, Ninetynine chose to create a fin-system that follows the shape of the floor plan. The fins are lower at the far ends and higher in the centre, curving towards the inside to create a dome-like shape. The structure of the fins contains the back bar of the counter, a seating bench and bar tops at two heights. On the higher level, the fins are connected with white steel tubes, which accommodate the lighting comprising small spot lights screwed directly into the tubes and pendant lights suspended from the tubes over the bar tops.
Design concept D.E. Café The café functions as a home-style living room where everything takes place in a relaxed way: cooking, eating, lounging, playing and working. Coffee is obviously a very important component within the D.E. Café concept, but creating a relaxed homely environment was equally relevant. To create the living room feel, Ninetynine mainly used warm natural materials, with a herringbone floor in dark oak that creates a warm natural base for the interior. The layout features an iconic counter, high and low bar tables along the perimeter, a long central communal table and a comfortable leather banquette which sweeps around the oval perimeter.
Counter Design The iconic counter is an important part of the new interior concept for D.E. Café. The front counter consists of a 7-meter linear block. The top part is made from a Terrazzo block and floats on the base which is cladded with vertical slats of dark oak flooring. A led line around the bottom of the terrazzo block emphasises this floating effect.
Featuring a 3-group Spirit espresso machine and glass pastry display, the counter is covered by an open steel structure, which connects the pavilion structure to the interior and accommodates the menu boards. The back counter, connected to the base of the pavilion, is realised in a dark grey finish with a black natural stone top. Brass pipes divide the back bar from the passing shopping crowd, protecting the operations without compromising the transparency of the structure.
Seating areas The large communal table is positioned as an extension of the bar, covered by the same open steel structure which contains the lighting above the table, while red chairs add a touch of brand colour to the natural tones of the interior.
The curved fins of the pavilion boast natural oak bar tops at heights of 750mm and 950mm, which are accompanied by &tradition In Between SK1 chairs or Enea Coma stools. Pendant light sources drop down from the pavilion’s steel structure above the table tops.The narrow end of the oval-shaped pavilion is fully equipped with banquette seating on the concrete base of the structure. Leather seating pads and two leather back rest rolls ensure comfortable seating and shelter from the passing crowd “outside”. The leather upholstery comes in a gradient of brown tones, referring to the different roasts of coffee beans. Along one of the open sides of the pavilion, two groups of two armchairs each form a soft terrace-like seating area. The armchairs are positioned on a custom branded circular rug and sheltered from the rest of the seating by a high black planter.
Team:
Architect: Ninetynine
Photographer: Ewout Huibers
Materials Used:
Pavilion:
Fins: oak with white insert
Base: anthracite beton cire on wooden substructure
Floor: Parquet, oak, herringbone, stained dark
Lighting:
Maretti, bespoke design
Fixed furniture:
Counter: Terrazzo, Ecoston, type Oslo; oak wood slats, stained dark
Common table: oak table top, black RAL 9004 base
Service Station: oak
Table tops (connected to fins): oak
Planter: powder coated steel, black RAL 9004
Loose furniture:
TRUE DESIGN, Not a lounge, chair, black base, leather upholstery
SOFTLINE, Noomi, lounge chair, black base, grey upholstery
NORMANN COPENHAGEN, Tap, stool, natural oak base, grey seating
PEDRALI, Stylus, table base black with marble top (white)
TRUE DESIGN, Cloud tabbles, CL T30L and CL T24H, black and natural oak
&TRADITION, In Between SK1, chai, white oiled oak and black stained oak
ENEA, Coma wood 2092, stool, black stained oak
ONDARETTA, Wood Bob Chair, red stained beech
Rugs:
Bespoke design
