Hospitality design is often determined through a combination of customer, cuisine, and comfort. Memorable dining experiences are dependent not only on what one eats but are often mediated by the space one eats in. Hence, hospitality design and by extension café design, hinges on designers creating a memorable experience for patrons through a unique brand identity—often the result of interpreting the cuisine on offer through spatial markers—the goal being to ensure that visitors keep coming back for more.

Designers may choose to address nuances of creating brand recall and a hospitality experience through gestures that subtly tie back to the cuisine, or through bold expression, taking inspiration from multiple sources. In the case of TOUCH Architect’s design for French Kitsch III café, the choice of a hulking concrete structure defining the petite café indicates the latter. The Thai architects reference the French patisserie and their clients' love of French bulldogs as a literal interpretation for the brutalist design of the café.

With sumptuous arches and bare concrete walls, the café is designed to make an impression on the first-time visitor. In some ways, the 360 sq.m concrete shell recalls the later modernist gestures of Le Corbusier with its play of form and curve and the imperfect texture employed in its façade design.

This liberal use of concrete in the case of the design is something worth commenting on. As demonstrated in the section, almost the entire shell of the bunker-like building has been constructed in concrete, regarded as an unsustainable material for today's construction world. The intention of using concrete was to let the material shine, as they stated in a press release. Despite the imposing structure of the shell, the interior spaces feel quite light and airy due to the presence of extensive glazing and skylights. The use of glazing allows natural light to filter in while also creating a seamless connection to the outside. Further, while the exterior is sculptural, the interior design is minimal, with pink bulldogs and a theatrical lighting design adding a pop of colour, while creating a contemporary, sleek aesthetic for a younger generation who treat these spaces as remote workplaces.

The bare interiors, with the pink sculptures and the soft natural light coming through make for the perfect café set-up, with the right balance of artsy and kitsch design. Two staggered volumes make up the design, with a double-height counter area connecting the different levels. On the ground floor, a corridor of arches makes up the internal volume. As the architects illustrate, the idea of using arches stemmed from the architecture of the French cathedral, with the interplay of light within likened to the light streaming into the church through rose windows. The arch metaphor continues with a fluid, curvilinear wall connecting the ground to the first floor.

On the first floor, voids are carved into the inverted curves in the external facade, allowing sunlight to enter the space. It’s not often that cafes are likened to cathedrals, and it’s far less common to be inspired by croissants. But, as the architects illustrate, another innocuous inspiration for the arches in the design comes from them, a glib nod to the flaky pastry often enjoyed with coffee. Hence, in creating a brand identity for the café, the architects not only played up obvious imagery such as using tongue-in-cheek sculptures of dogs, but they also played with abstracted forms to create a space that feels contemporary yet historic, airy yet cave-like.

Concrete architecture often calls to mind the monumental, the unassailable and the rustic. In taking such a form for the contemporary design, the architects not only manage to create a memorable building, they manage to make the mundane act of getting coffee in the morning an experience in itself.

Project Details

Name: French Kitsch III
Location: City Link, Mueang, Nakornratchasima, Thailand
Year of completion: 2023
Area:
Site area: 540 sqm
Built area: 360 sq.m.
Design team:
Principal architect: Setthakarn Yangderm, Parpis Leelaniramol
Design team: Pitchaya Tiyapitsanupaisal, Tanita Panjawongroj, Thanunya Deeprasittikul, Matucha Kanpai
Consultants:
Civil engineer: Chittinat Wongmaneeprateep
M&E engineer: Yodchai kornsiriwipha x Isarapap Rattanabumrung
Contractor: Samma Construction