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    Projekt Praga incorporates mid-century references into Polish dumpling restaurant

    Polish architecture firm Projekt Praga has blended modern and mid-century features inside the Syrena Irena bistro in Warsaw, which serves traditional pierogi dumplings.

    Syrena Irena is located in an early 1950s building in the centre of the city that originally functioned as a hotel cafe.
    Syrena Irena is a pierogi restaurant in WarsawAside from handmade boiled pierogi, the restaurant’s “cheerful and honest” menu contains classic Polish dishes from the 50s and 60s such as sour rye soup and herring in flax and hemp oil, which have been updated for modern tastes.
    To add to the homely and casual atmosphere, Projekt Praga created an interior with a self-service set-up that uses mid-century design references to pay homage to both the building’s architecture and the bistro’s nostalgic menu.
    Wooden stools by Buck Studio surround the restaurant’s tablesThese include terrazzo-style tabletops, mosaic tiles, neon signs, milky glass sconces from Polish lighting brand Aqform and wooden stools with triangular seats by Wroclaw-based Buck Studio.

    In particular, Projekt Praga said it chose details, shapes and materials associated with the “prudent design” of Poland’s communist era.
    Spherical glass sconces by Aqform decorate the wallsThe terrazzo-style tabletops with their simple black bases were custom made, as were most of the metal elements in the space.
    Bar counters were powder-coated in bold colours to complement the building’s original 1950s wall mouldings and arches.
    The interior’s colour scheme mixes blue and coral tonesA large window at the front of the restaurant allows passersby to observe the chefs at work – kneading, stuffing and folding the pierogi.
    In the afternoon, sun shines through the windows and illuminates the dining room, while neon lights bring the space to life in the evening.

    Mateusz Baumiller converts warehouse into homely offices for Clay.Warsaw

    The colour scheme mixes aquatic blue with pink, peach and coral tones in line with the restaurant’s mermaid-themed branding, which was developed by Polish graphic design agency Mamastudio and illustrator Ola Sadownik.
    Both this and the restaurant’s name, Syrena Irena, are a nod to Syrenka Warszawska – the mermaid that acts as a symbol for the city of Warsaw and can be found in its coat of arms, as well as on monuments and buildings throughout the capital.
    Black tables with terrazzo-style tops were custom made for the space”The alternating personality of Syrena Irena gave us a chance to use geometrical forms and colours,” explained Projekt Praga.
    “The classical aesthetic of the existing space was balanced by less profound features like wall drawings, railings imitating a mermaid scale pattern and distinctive neon signs,” the studio added.
    “Despite this duality in the bistro’s persona, varied details like neon signs, lettering and murals all come together harmoniously.”
    A monochrome rendition of a Herbert James Draper painting decorates the wallsAt Mamastudio’s suggestion, Projekt Praga used a monochrome print of Ulysses and the Sirens – an oil painting created by English artist Herbert James Draper in 1909 – to cover two of the walls.
    The restaurant’s illuminated signeage was designed in collaboration with local artisan Jacek Hanak, who is responsible for reviving many of the city’s old neon lights.
    Neon signs were made in collaboration with Jacek Hanak. Photo is by Zuza Kozerska”We were influenced by the aesthetics of the jazzy Warsaw of the 1960s when this part of town was a vibrant destination for night owls and barflies,” said Mamastudio of the restaurant’s branding.
    “There were bright neon signs, music was everywhere, colourful artsy types and thrilling energy. With that, we decided that the mermaid logo should bear resemblance to a retro cut-out. The typography is expressive and slightly clumsy on purpose.”
    Other dumpling restaurants featured on Dezeen include a bao restaurant in Valencia that was designed to resemble a sunset and a small Chinese eatery in New York, where stainless steel, brass and polycarbonate are combined to create a futuristic interior.
    The photography is by PION studio unless otherwise stated.

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  • Agnieszka Owsiany Studio creates tranquil apartment in Poznań for couple working in medicine

    The high-pressure medical jobs of the couple living in this Poznań apartment led Agnieszka Owsiany Studio to apply a calming mix of wood and pale marble throughout the interiors.Set inside a newly built residential block that overlooks a botanical garden, the Botaniczna Apartment is home to a surgeon and his wife who runs a medical clinic.

    Above: the living area. Top image: a wood-lined hallway leads to the apartment’s master bedroom
    The couple had purchased the 90-square-metre apartment as an empty shell but soon brought Agnieszka Owsiany Studio on board to develop the interiors.

    They requested that the studio compose a calming home environment where they could unwind at the end of their often stressful workdays.

    The couple’s personal trinkets can be displayed in a long walnut sideboard
    “My clients asked for a high quality, almost hotel-like space as they were in need of everyday comfort,” the studio’s founder, Agnieszka Owsiany, told Dezeen.
    “I really wanted to create something timeless, hence the idea to use the materials such as wood and travertine which age beautifully and hopefully won’t be replaced within many years,” she continued.
    “All the kinds of wood and stone I chose, they have these nice, soothing warm tones.”

    A black dining table contrast the neutral colours elsewhere in the room
    Wooden chevron flooring runs throughout the home’s open-plan living and dining room, at the centre of which sits a plump sofa upholstered in brown leather.
    A coffee table perches on a fluffy rug just in front. It runs alongside a four-metre-long walnut sideboard where the couple can tuck books and magazines, or display small ornaments.

    The kitchen boasts oak cabinetry and a travertine marble island
    The kitchen is placed in the corner of the room, finished with oak cabinetry. Slim slabs of creamy travertine marble have been used to make the splashback behind the stove and the breakfast island.

    Nadzieja restaurant in Poznań features understated Bauhaus-style interiors

    There’s additionally a console made from burl wood – specifically chosen by the studio for its distinctive grain pattern – and a jet-black dining table fashion from bogwood, which is meant to stand in stark contrast to the otherwise neutral shades in the room.

    Burl wood has been used to make a distinctive vanity desk in the bedroom
    A cosy, wood-panelled hallway leads to the apartment’s other rooms, which lie behind floor-to-ceiling doors.
    Agnieszka Owsiany Studio has continued using much the same material palette – for example, burl wood has been used to create a vanity desk in the master bedroom. Oak storage units feature in the adjacent walk-in-wardrobe, which is neatly obscured by a linen-curtain screen.

    Travertine marble also covers surfaces in the bathroom
    The same travertine marble that features in the kitchen has been used to line surfaces in the bathroom and to make the washbasins.
    In the home office, oak lines the back wall and a full-height gridded shelf.

    The home office includes a full-height oak shelving unit
    This isn’t the first project that Agnieszka Owsiany Studio has completed in the Polish city of Poznań.
    At the end of last year, the studio designed the interiors of restaurant Nadzieja, filling it with Bauhaus-inspired details like tubular steel-frame chairs and pale partition walls that echo the buildings seen in Tel Aviv’s White City.
    Photography is by Pion Studio.

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  • K916 and K907 are a pair of pared-back holiday apartments in Warsaw

    Boxy timber volumes tuck away the beds and bathrooms of these minimal holiday apartments designed by Thisispaper Studio, which lie at the heart of the Polish capital. The two flats – named K916 and K907 – are set within an old print warehouse in Warsaw’s Praga district that was originally built in 1903, but has […] More

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    Mateusz Baumiller converts warehouse into homely offices for Clay.Warsaw

    Polish architect Mateusz Baumiller has merged deep-pink walls, velvet furnishings and wooden fixtures to soften the industrial shell of this creative office in Warsaw. Housed in a former military warehouse from the 1930s and founded by three creative production companies – Analog/Digital, Menu and Photoby – Clay.Warsaw serves as a workplace, studio, shoot location and […] More