A renovation project of Henri Sharpantier Kobe Ashiya Main Store, founded in 1969. “Crêpe Suzette,” the crepe lightly simmered in orange juice and flambe with Grand Marnier, was the pastry that triggered the place to open. At the time when the cafe was founded, Crêpe Suzette could only be seen in dessert menus of high-end restaurants. The founder, Mr. Arita opened the place embracing his hope to foster more opportunities for people to taste this pastry that brings surprise and warmth. The client’ s request was to renovate the cafe/shop, placing values to this concept held since their establishment.
The fascinating blue flame that is seen when flambeing the “Crêpe Suzette” was one of the cafe’ s important elements. In order to make the flames stand out, we made the color scheme of the interior toned down, aiming a calm atmosphere of a salon. Since the site was open to three directions, the interior could be widely seen from afar as if the shop itself was a showcase. Floors, walls, ceilings of the interior were all designed with a mosaic of five different kinds of wood. Colors of the wooden materials were taken from cookies, chocolate, sponge cakes, and other pastries. Forms and decorations of their pastry were deformed into simple figures. Inspired by their designs, we created geometric shapes for patterns on the walls, legs of furniture, and other elements. When standing in front of the store, the symmetric showcase and the curved wooden wall behind would impressively appear. The cafe space surrounds the showcase along the windows. A variety of plants are arranged around the shop, creating a nice green layer that would allow a moderate distance between the cafe/shop and the street. The scenes of people shopping inside or enjoying the pastries in the cafe can be seen from the outside, adding another new lively scene in the city of Ashiya.