Alongside revitalised icons such as Prasowy and Gdanski, and establishments that are still waiting for their renaissance. Joining the ranks of the capital’s milk bars is Grażyny’s Milk Bar. The designers behind the interior concept are those who perfectly understand the DNA of the capital’s establishments. The investor invited Mikołaj Wojciechowski, co-author of the Prasowy and Gdański metamorphoses, who today co-founded the Public studio together with Maciej Granecki and Maciej Kuratczyk. This trio opted for consistency and uncompromisingness: the entire décor is based on reusing existing elements or recycled materials that have been given a second life.
Grazyna’s bar took over the premises of a former shoe shop. The first move was radical in its simplicity: clean the space down to the bare brick and expose what was authentic. Already at the start, there was a moment that is rare in interior design – a pre-war black and white mosaic was discovered under the market tiles from the 1990s. It had survived almost intact, requiring only local additions. It became one of the protagonists of the interior, immediately giving it lightness and rhythm.
The brick walls of the townhouse were left raw and only impregnated to bring out their vibrant colour and micro-texture. The back rooms and bathrooms were separated from the raw plasterboard, protected by a varnish against dirt. This economical but thoughtful intervention emphasises the difference between the stable structure and the introduced, contemporary inserts. As a result, the interior reads like a palimpsest: the city speaks from different eras, and each voice is distinct.
Second-hand materials and furniture
When the frame was ready, the designers moved on to the utilitarian layer. The tables, windowsills and built-ins in the bathroom were assembled from tiles from the eighties and nineties, found on advertising platforms. Each tile carries a shade of a different story, and together they form a contemporary patchwork – tidy, restrained, pleasantly imperfect. The sofas are constructed from Boomplastic plates, formed from melted PET caps; their dense, irregular structure creates a subtle, semi-transparent pattern. They are complemented by upholstered backrests made from recycled Dekoma fabric, softly enclosing the harder, mineral surfaces.
The chairs were supplied by ‘The Chairmaker’, known for tracing character and history in second-hand furniture. This is not a collection from a catalogue, but a carefully composed set of personalities – each piece sounds a little different, yet fits into the common tone of the venue. In this way, the bar avoids monotony and retains a human scale that can be seen in the details of touch and trace of use.
Light and art
The tall interior demanded light with not only a technical dimension, but also a symbolic one. Responsible for the functional layer is AQForm’s lighting, from discontinued series rescued from disposal. The variety of their colours is not accidental – it lightly unseals the order of the composition and adds a pulsating energy.
A decorative role is also played by three powerful lamps made of fused glass, drawn by the designers and realised in the workshop Different Things. Luminous totems were created from blocks familiar from staircases and shopping pavilions, which tie the height of the space together and create a soft, diffused glow. The culmination, however, is a wall six metres high. Warsaw-based street artist Easy was invited to collaborate on its design. He designed a new atmospheric bar sign and a monumental installation made of used cookbooks. These volumes, with homemade recipes and notes in the margins, were turned into a sculpture.
With this realization, the designers from Studio Public prove that it is possible to design a fully functional interior from secondary products and it will not be associated with clutter and sloppy workmanship. Quite the opposite. The result is a modern establishment that is the perfect complement to Warsaw’s already legendary milk bars.
design: Pracownia Projektowania Wnętrz SOJKA&WOJCIECHOWSKI(http://www.sojkawojciechowski.pl)
photography: Maja Bułkowska(https://www.instagram.com/majabulkowskafotografia)
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