Café Cabinteely
Thedesign strategy for Urbun was to engage the café with the passer-by by locatingthe kitchen in the shop window; pedestrians get a full day’s show as the chefsbake bread and cakes and prepare salads, soups and sandwiches. The dining arearuns the full depth of the unit taking light and views from both the publicstreet to the front and the development’s garden to the rear.
TheCabinteely village café is located in Irelands first ‘A’ energy rated apartmentbuilding, and taps into this ethos with a simply finished unit using simplematerials, for aesthetic and economy, in addition to using the ‘found’ unfinishedwalls wherever possible.
Theunit’s existing concrete block work walls were cleaned down and painted and theexisting in-situ cast concrete ceiling was left exposed. The table-tops andterracotta tiles were sourced in local salvage yards. The former were combinedwith bespoke square section stainless steel bases to form ‘canteen’ style benchtables while the latter were used on both floor and wall to define the kitchenand service areas.
Wesourced decorative electrical flex in Elephant Grey, brass light fittings andSwiss made light bulbs all of which were assembled to form the pendant lightsover the table.
Thefeature wall used standard bullnose external light fittings sourced in a localhardware store and reused as interior lights. Standard steel conduit is foldedinto a feature pattern on the wall to house the lights’ cabling.
TheKitchen counter and display table are made of polished concrete, in naturalcolour and regular aggregate, and include polished insets of 3 sets of cutlerywhich were included during the casting process.
