Small and Trendy

By Sonal Mamoowala

Photography: Courtesy the designers

 

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72 Cheese Cottage is a dreamy, surreal, monochrome ensemble that juxtaposes eclectic and classic design styles to evoke a youthful and sensual hospitality experience…

Tucked away in the by lanes of South Mumbai, night-time café - 72 Cheese Cottage is designed by SSK Associates’ designer trio – Shilpa Agarwal, Shruti Mehta and Komal Jain with a focus on creating a happening, trendy eatery out of a mere 200 sq.ft space.

 

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The designers play on augmenting the space by using a reverse design typology, where large black-and-white vinyl tiles anoint the floor and a regained outdated ceiling has ethnic light fixtures suspended at different levels.

 

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The vibrancy of the café is constituted via its pulsating visual treat - emanating from a large ensemble of monochrome prints of legendary musicians in rectangular and square formats, doubled by reflection in large mirrors, staring into your face, taking you back in time for an inspirational narrative from bygone eras.

 

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As the mirrors create an illusion of additional space, a rich tactile vocabulary engages the diner with various materials like textured paint, exposed brick work (on the wall), rough concrete plaster (panelling) and contemporarily patterned fabric ushering in a stylish semi-casual atmosphere. Modern metal and wood furniture, chairs hand picked from Vitra furniture add warmth - a perfect foil to the light and dark wood finishes that abound.

 

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An accented wall in blue, antique accessories, quaint coloured bottles and potted greens dotting the tables for added interest… come together to make this cosy 16-seater eatery into a visually delightful, experiential gen next attraction.

 

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Careful assembling of similar-sized picture frames and mirrors and antique accessories allude to detail in design, while the introduction of large floor pattern and pendulum lights in a small space instead of the conventional approach to opening up the space to the extent possible, allude to the designers’ emboldened approach.