Diverse and univocal identity. Buttercup pastry shop and cafeteria by Jordi Ginabreda + Anna Sabrià

Project description by Jordi Ginabreda

A little new shoot has sprouted from the Michelin star restaurant “Les Magnòlies” (“The magnolia trees” in catalan language) in the old town of Girona. Buttercup (by les Magnòlies) is a deli coffee shop that, as its elder brother, is named after a flower, and it blooms to present itself to the public as the new reference site for foodies looking for the most exclusive and elaborated sweets.

Buttercup plants itself in a space divided into three parallel galleries whose main façade is totally open to a small square of Girona’s historic district. The central one hosts the visitors and becomes the symmetry axis of the interior design project. It houses the reception bar and the open workspace where all the products served in the store are prepared in plain view.

Just as flowers stem from a seed that condenses all its upcoming beauty in one pure shape, the project also feeds on this duality, and shows a clear distinction between the central gallery, where the preciseness of pastry making happens and the surrounding ones where the sweet preparations are enjoyed by customers.

The bakery workshop area is characterized by order and formal rigor. Straight lines and chromatic containment are in charge here. The geometrical motives of the encaustic tiles flooring, the orthogonal metal shelving affixed to the ceiling or the glazed tiling covering all surfaces redound to this idea. All materials exhibit bright finishing and cold touch: stainless steel, glass and glazed tiles. The whole space becomes some sort of laboratory where the science of pastry making takes place.

The dining rooms at both sides become the other side of the coin. Science opens the way for magic. The seed gives its fruit. We move from the place where you work to the place where you enjoy. Color scheme turns audacious, dark blue and bold yellow, like the flower that gives name to the business. Lines curve and materials change into matte and warm: oak wood and padded felt for the furniture. The lamps specifically design for the project become its most effective element, lightweight circle arcs suspended above the diners.

Despite sharing the same language, both side rooms have their own identity. A large shared table or a high bar with views to the square in one side and padded benches, different sized and shaped tables and low bars facing outwards on the other, which add versatility and offer clients various ways to take over the space.

To round everything off, the flower itself makes its first and only literal appearance in the shape of a neon light that dyes in corporate yellow the whole bathroom area. Ultimate gesture to the coffee shop name and cutting-edge element as well.
 
A little new shoot has sprouted from the Michelin star restaurant “Les Magnòlies” in the old town of Girona. Buttercup puts down roots here to grow vigorously and bear fruit for a long time.