Zooco Estudio designs "atypical" art deco-informed interior in Santander
Art deco design motifs informed the interior of Atypique, an artisan workshop and specialty coffee shop in the Spanish port of Santander by local practice Zooco Estudio.
The architecture studio was asked by the client to design "a completely different space" that the city did not yet have by combining a coffee shop and bakery while appealing to a younger, sport-oriented lifestyle demographic active on social media.
Atypique is located on the ground floor of the Siboney building, a 1930s art deco residential block designed by architect José Enrique Marrero Regalado.
It is particularly notable for its characterful maritime architecture, which the studio drew on from the outset.
"From the initial concept, the objective was clear: to replicate the atypical character of the Siboney building," Zooco Estudio told Dezeen.
"This strong architectural language became a resource that we decided to incorporate into the interior, generating continuity between the identity of the building and its new commercial use."
Spatially, Atypique is organised into what can be understood as three visual planes, reinterpreting the Siboney building's modular logic and horizontal banding.
"We transferred this strategy to the interior, organising the programme into functional strips," the studio explained.
The bar and seating area occupy the lower strip, mirrors and upper work surfaces form the middle band and lighting defines the upper level.
"We essentially turned the building inside out," Zooco Estudio said.
Curved features – such as furniture, lighting and wall niches – mediate the transitions between these planes, echoing the facade's shift from linear to rounded forms.
Additionally, throughout the 100-square-metre space, playful red accents punctuate the geometry.
The studio describes this strategy as instilling character without breaking a sense of the "rationalist sobriety" of the interior scheme.
Atypique features a restrained material palette: sleek stainless steel furniture and lighting, warm oak and locally-sourced Val de San Vicente limestone in a polished and split-face finished bar.
According to Zooco Estudio, the materials were chosen for their timeless honesty, which was important in order for the materials to "express themselves fully".
The designers used a methodology that was inspired by a Nordic sensibility, according to the studio, which "embraces aging in materials and allows them to change with use."
Furthermore, the cafe's materiality allows the space to be explored haptically within the context of everyday use.
"We wanted the space to be explored through touch: to feel the stone, its roughness, and then its polished surface where daily use occurs," Zooco Estudio said.
The studio recently completed a brutalist restaurant with vaulted concrete paraboloids, also located along Santander Bay, and has previously created a renovated Madrid house with a two-storey bookshelf.
The photography is by David Zarzoso.
Project credits:
Architect: Zooco Estudio
Project architects: Miguel Crespo Picot, Javier Guzman Benito, and Sixto Martin Martinez
Construction: Coboman S.L.
Furniture: Zooco Estudio
Lighting: Zooco Estudio
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