Quadrum Studio Creates a Monochromatic Café in Saratov, Russia

When Quadrum Studio was tasked with designing the interiors of White Coffee Café, its location on a busy street in the Russian city of Saratov inspired the design team to reference Paris, specifically the Apple store on the Champs-Élysées. Albert Bagdasaryan, who worked on the project along with Inna Bagdasaryan and Olga Krainova, shares that the café reflects the Apple store’s somewhat “unimaginable form,” where state-of-the art laptops are in dialogue with original Beaux-Arts cornices. To recreate this juxtaposed aesthetic, the team used white plaster stucco to fashion ornate mouldings on the ceilings and instead of a traditional chandelier, the design team inserted a futuristic, floating neon lighting fixture. “We had to add new details to the space, but didn’t necessarily want the interiors to look ‘new’,” Bagdasaryan explains. Herringbone wood floors ground the café in a timeless pattern with a muted chestnut grain that complements the monochromatic interiors. Ultimately, Quadrum decided to insert pops of color with the vibrant furniture in warm yellow and orange hues. And instead of pieces of art, reflective surfaces and vertical tubes of neon light decorate the space, creating a unique environment where diners can enjoy a coffee and croissants.