Aura Bar de Cócteles by Kacper Gronkiewicz

Aura Bar de Cócteles by Kacper Gronkiewicz is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2020 A' Design Award de Ferro in Deseño de Espazos Interiores e de Exposición Competition Category.

FerroInteriorismo· 2020

Aura Bar de Cócteles

by Kacper Gronkiewicz

Client: Kacper Gronkiewicz

A' Design Award de Ferro Winner in Interiorismo Category

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Verified Award Winner

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Colors

The Design

About Aura Bar de Cócteles

Aura é un bar de cócteles situado na planta baixa dun edificio do século XIX no centro de Varsovia. O interior ocupa 25 metros cadrados, e o espazo principal ten 4,8 metros de altura. O latón pulido e mate contrasta con suaves alfombras estampadas que cobren a parede principal. Utilízanse elementos de latón para as estanterías, as mesas altas e as delgadas lámpadas colgantes, mentres que placas douradas rematan o mostrador de bebidas, apoiado sobre unha base de mármore. Unha serie de ocos no chan sostén mesas feitas por encargo a tres alturas distintas, de xeito que o pequeno local pode funcionar como cafetaría de día e como bar pola noite.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award de Ferro

Aura Bar de Cócteles gañou o A' Design Award de Ferro, un recoñecemento prestixioso outorgado a bos deseños que cumpren os requisitos profesionais e industriais esperados de creacións ben deseñadas. Os gañadores Ferro demostran a gran habilidade, a alta especialización, a comprensión experta e a capacidade creativa dos seus creadores. Espérase que Aura Bar de Cócteles sexa unha creación moi apreciada, admirada e querida que é práctica e innovadora. Este deseño gañador do A' Design Award de Ferro integra as mellores prácticas do sector e ten características técnicas competentes ligadas ao saber facer e ao talento. Aura Bar de Cócteles é respectado pola súa minuciosidade e está deseñado para proporcionar melloras na calidade de vida que axudan a facer do mundo un lugar mellor.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: Gronkiewicz contrasted polished and mat, veneered and raw brass with soft patterned carpets lining the wall. To optimise the venue's limited space a set of holes was designed in the floor for several combinations of custom made big and small tables. Bringing gold into interior, the architect installed various brass fixtures throughout the space, from the shelves to the high tables and slim lighting pendants. Golden plates are also used to top off the drinks counter, which perches on a mismatch marble base. Velvet upholstered seats and cobalt blue toilet complement the red hues of the floor and vintage barstools.
Dimensions & Packaging: Area of the premises - 25sqm, height of a main space - 4,8m. Combination of 3 small (50cm in diameter) and one large (100cm in diameter) tables are possible. The height of tables may be adjusted to high, medium and low level.
Tags: Aura, bar, cocktail, Warsaw, carpet, interior, gold, custom-made
Production Technology: Minor craft services of the area encouraged architect to use customized solutions. Arched benches were made by the craftsman next door while stone slabs cladding the bar came from a stonemason based on one of Warsaw cemeteries and are the leftovers of his commissions. Its scales cladding bar's rear wall are posed on 5 mm steel shelves - invisible yet resilient. A shabby mint green background of original nineteenth century walls was yet raised by the painter from neighbourhood. The blue walls and vaulted ceilings were finished with water resistant blue paint and instead of a wallpaper Gronkiewicz used old carpets to paste up the main wall. All this involved prototyping and none of this would be possible without local contractors.
Design Challenge: The small premises (25sqm/80sqf) implied a very careful functional layout. The bar consist of the clients' area, bartenders open and hidden working space, toilet, technical facility and a storage for beverages on the off-sight mezzanine. Designer had to adjust the set of holes in the floor according to existing 19th century layout of steel supporting beams and yet obtain ergonomic distances between fixed tables, stools and benches.
Research: Together with investors designer tried to make out how people would use the place in the daytime, evening and by night keeping in mind natural lighting conditions and the downtown location. They based on Investors curriculum from other similar places as well as the observations made in neighbourhood bar, cafe and vegan patisserie. They came up with few sets of tables dedicated to specific time of the day and provided dimmable light to transform the place from a daily cafe to a bar or even a small concert venue. Table tops not in use are hanging on the walls as decoration.
Inspiration: First inspiration came from Franz West's sofas upholstered with old carpets and exhibited in Kassel during Documenta X in 1997. This unconventional use of private second-hand objects gave a hint of cosiness to the public space. An idea appealed to the Investor who had inherited some old family carpets and this pushed architect toward Moroccan imagery - Marrakesh vibrant marketplaces and villa Majorelle Gardens. In his formal language Gronkiewicz was also largely inspired by Giorgio de Chirico paintings. The name of the bar relates to latin aurum - gold and also to a colour of bourbon based drinks served here.
Project Duration: The project was executed in Warsaw in January 2019 and rendered to public in June 2019.
Aura is set on the ground floor of a former tenement house of Jochwet Taubenhaus that was built in the 19th century in the very centre of Warsaw. It has survived German bombings during Second World War. There has been several kinds of business ran in the small corner premises on the ground level of the building since then - all left some history in the walls which Gronkiewicz wanted to evoke.
Operation Flow: Architect elaborated the unique system of tubes inserted in the floor where the custom made tables can be slotted into and set at various heights to respond to different use of the space during the day and by night. The design does not freeze the space, on the contrary, it opens it for interaction. To maximize customers space and enhance the view on the street Gronkiewicz got rid of windowsills and replaced it with upholstered benches.
Patents: Copyrights belong to Kacper Gronkiewicz
Image Credits: Photographers: Łukasz Kuś, Magda Rzeszot, 2019