0222 SWEET NOLAN
Description
Sweet Nolan, located in Syntagma, is the third culinary project of the Nolanverse. This modern pastry shop maintains a conceptual and design connection with the other planet – members of the brand. Trail Practice aimed to revive memories of urban pastry shops within a contemporary space, the image of which transforms throughout the day and with the changing of seasons.
Sweet Nolan, located in Syntagma, is the third culinary project of the Nolanverse. This modern pastry shop maintains a conceptual and design connection with the other planet – members of the brand. Trail Practice aimed to revive memories of urban pastry shops within a contemporary space, the image of which transforms throughout the day and with the changing of seasons.
The design concept was to create a moving storefront, that is constantly changing. The idea came into practice through a system of marble display cases specifically designed to accommodate custom-made pastry trolleys. The vertical and horizontal marble elements constitute an autonomous structural system, effectively organizing production, display, and sales. Ceiling-mounted mirrors introduce an additional dimension to the visual experience, creating distortions and a melting effect that amplify the sense of continuous flow. The constant movement of the trolleys, the replenishment of pastries in the display cases, and the reflections from the mirrors perpetually alter the city’s view into the interior. An inox counter traverses both the workshop and the sales area, extending linearly and integrating production and sales both practically and conceptually. This continuous inox surface enhances the sense of flow to and from the workshop, which serves as the space’s nucleus. Despite the workshop’s independence, it visually interacts with the sales area through a small window designated for the à la minute delivery of pastries. The material choices reflect a unified architectural vocabulary consistent across all Nolanverse members.
The experience of a dynamically changing space is juxtaposed with the choice of marble (Dionysos, Thasos, and Santa Clara) as the predominant material, evoking traditional urban pastry shops. Trail Practice balances between contrasts and affinities in order to craft a distinct and recognizable identity for each space. Following this design direction, the floor was created as an unconventional mosaic of marble scraps, with their widths determining the final pattern. Similarly, custom-made display objects of varying heights were designed to attach to the inox counter handle. This meticulous attention to detail ensures that each element contributes to a cohesive design outcome.
NOLANVERSE
Nolanverse encompasses projects, people, materials, recipes, techniques, ideas, and knowledge, creating a cohesive gastronomic universe. Although rooted in Greece, it offers an atopic experience that transcends geographic boundaries and extends beyond tasting. Trail Practice envisioned and co-created spaces of varying uses and sizes, united by common expressive elements while evoking memories and senses.
The creation of a recognizable brand identity (brand ID) requires the synthesis of an architectural vocabulary that is subtly repeated, crafting worlds within worlds. This challenging demand brings architecture, interior and industrial design, and graphic design into a synergistic process, evolving simultaneously across different design scales.