FOODOO

FOODOO is part of the metropolitan pub chain “This is Pivbar”, created in a style of a diner. It is located in the residential district Levyi Bereg in Kyiv, Ukraine. A small area of ​​130 m2, including kitchen appliances, comfortably accommodates up to 54 guests. There is a take away zone by the entrance, featuring cantilever seating. Customers can be seated at small tables on the cylinder-shaped seats, while waiting for their take-away orders.

balbek bureau team faced several tasks. First of all, architects were to implement the project within a short time frame – 100 days only from the signing of the contract until the opening of the establishment. Moreover, the fast lunch concept was emphasized by the client; therefore, it was important to make seating provision for the high levels of attendance and table turnover. At the same time, the design had to be practical, durable and be realizable at a maximum speed in future diner projects for the same chain.

Keeping in line with the democratic design format, the architects offered a concise and practical interior solution. The company color – green – was used as a main hue of the color scheme. In combination with the basic monochrome palette and genuine leather, architects managed to emphasize the elegant simplicity of functional minimalism. As for the furniture selection, the authors of the project gave preference to Ukrainian brands.

The design of the diner is not overloaded with bright colors and decor elements. Instead, the balbek bureau team paid a lot of attention to architectural design of the interior. There is a shadow seam within a joint between the ceiling and walls, created with a hidden aluminum profile. The contrast adds sophistication to the space, seemingly lifting it up. The flooring is made of marmoleum, which is a natural highly-durable material. Due to its ecological characteristics, the architects chose marmoleum as finishing material for the bar counter.

Following the concept of seamless flow of vertical planes into horizontal, the architects used steel profile that helped to achieve the effect of smooth transition of walls into the floor. Absence of a classic joint line between the floor and walls created pictorial cleanliness and visual lightness.

Foodoo People
To preserve the individuality of the establishment, the architects tried to create the diner’s symbol – an image that everyone could relate to.

A cosmonaut of 2.5 meters high has become such a symbol. The figure is made of polyester with a layer of varnish. The cosmonaut is not only the protagonist of the establishment, but also the guests’ favourite Instagram point.

Artwork
FOODOO’s minimalist interior is decorated with three themed design groups.

№1: Soyuz is a three-stage middle-class carrier rocket, a subset of the R-7 family. The rocket was designed for the launch of the manned spacecraft of Soyuz type and automatic spacecraft of the Cosmos series onto the Earth circular orbit with a constant orbital inclination.

№2: The stylized map of the residential complex POKh (Poznyaki – Osokorky – Kharkivska) on the left bank of the Dnieper River (Levyi Bereg district) in Kyiv. The idea is that guests will find and mark locations of their homes on the map. The image is printed on a soft foam cardboard.

No. 3: Music notes of world masterpieces in various musical genres.

Design: balbek bureau
Design Team: Slava Balbek, Lena Bryantseva, Natalia Kurylenko, Yevhenii Kuchmin, Dmitry Bondarenko, Yana Laskavenko
Photography:  Yevhenii Avramenko