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A tropical addition to the restaurant scene in Amsterdam East, Bar Botanique, designed by Studio Modijefsky, brings a fresh and green interior to the former local Dutch café. Double height large windows cover the entire façade of the corner building and spill in plenty of daylight, creating a direct link between the interior and its surroundings. The windows are a focal point in the design and interior concept, with mirrors hanging from the ceiling reflecting light and the scenery. Trains that travel opposite the café create a flickering reflection which is captured in the bar back-wall with it’s diverse use of colour, fabric and mirror strokes.

The space has been divided and defined using railings in a playful way. Inspired by the old railings in the café, the new railings reach up to the high ceiling and create a clear path between the bar and lounge area. Warm oak plinths cover the floor while a bright green concrete floor naturally connects the different areas of the interior.

The dining area is separated from the rest of the interior, and features a slight shift in mood – warm pink walls, flower press menu-board and green velvet banquette upholstery give the sunken dining room a special character of its own. Custom light fixtures made using simple glass plates with engraved circles create pleasant circular shadows along the wall and up the ceiling.

Historically a gym and later a local café, the new interior borrows a significant part of its identity from its past. New elements in the interior, such as the surprising hanging objects – geometric rings that suspend plants from the ceiling, bold geometric shapes, organic motifs, custom glass racks with light tubes and furniture details, all pay their respect to the past.

Inspired by nature, a rich colour palette is used for the furniture and compliments the interior. Colourful marble table tops in green and pink site beside the velvet banquets, reflecting the identity of the former café in their details. A stroke of bright blue on the stools that appear in front of the bar clad in green tiles and brown marble top, give the space another unexpected colour boost. The bar front (tiled in these babies) is complimented by a custom designed back bar – a composition of rounded shapes, metal mesh and light boxes, with a centre piece showcasing the bottles. A bright yellow coffee machine shines in custom made copper, adding another touch of colour to the space.

Plants have a strong presence in the interior. Palm trees, philodendron, ferns and monsteras create an ever changing interior. Highlighted with lamps, the plants create dramatic effects on the ceiling and walls, as the sun goes down the shadows become more present and the bar life begins.

[Images courtesy of Studio Modijefsky. Photography © Maarten Willemstein.]

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