In the chocolaterie, small masterpieces gain in importance by being carefully and imaginatively designed – and all for a single bite. Hop & Stork, a chocolaterie in Amsterdam with an adjoining café, has commissioned us with the store fitting and a new, modern design for their sales area. It was clear to us from an early stage that we would work with contrasts through particularly high rooms to draw attention to the fantastic selection of the finest chocolates in the custom-made sales counter.
We chose Neolith estatuario as a robust main material for the entire creation. The stone décor is matt yet impressive in its presence. Framed in a frame of light-colored, lacquered wood, the structure is particularly impressive. At the same time, the Neolith works very well in combination with glass in interior design and general store fitting. Glass embedded in the floor, but also the large daylight fronts and glass components of the store counter make the natural texture of the stone a futuristic component without appearing technical.
The white frames of the dark neolith are part of the concept of bringing the space closer together without losing the size of the store. Without these contrasts, very high ceilings quickly create a cold ambience, while chocolate, coffee and fine specialties stand for feelings of comfort and warmth. We also extract this coolness from the room via gray accentuated wall surfaces and dark work surfaces.
The decisive factor for the store fitting at Hop & Stork was that we could use the daylight, which fills almost the entire room, for the modern ambience. Large pendant luminaires, which are arranged slightly offset to the sales counter, provide pleasant lighting even on dark days without spreading too warm light.
In addition to the sales counter and the general store fitting, we have also equipped the café with bistro tables and sales display cases. This way, customers can enjoy a good cup of coffee, tea or hot chocolate while they try their hand at small works of art made from sweets. The open, bright presentation emphasizes how much time and effort the chocolatiers invest in each individual piece. Specialties are freshly prepared in this café and can also be bought as a stylish gift as a souvenir of your visit to Amsterdam. The display cases ensure that the selection is well lit and protected.
In the store fitting of this extraordinary café we have worked with bevels and niches that were already in place. The construction of the sales counter and wall cabinets over many running meters along the sales area was an exciting project, which is visually rounded off by historical and selected decorations on a shelf above. No element of the design directs the guests’ attention away from the selected chocolates. Instead, we left the stage to the traditional craft of chocolaterie.
