Take the neighbourhood’s beloved café, but make it chic – Frank was opened 9 years ago, and although it was frequented by the locals, Yana Molodykh, the renowned Ukrainian designer took it to the next level with a brand-new storefront.
“The customer wanted to refresh the interior of the coffee shop, which had not been changed for 9 years, since its opening. The main wish of the customer was to create an interior that would not look new, so to speak a bit "shabby", but at the same time would have some chic notes, like in stylish Milanese bars. He is a young man who loves animals and constantly rescues and rehomes homeless ones (the photo shows his dog Bulka, which he adopted as a puppy from a shelter), he really loves coffee and knows a lot about it (he has another coffee shop, which I renovated a few years ago), he plays sports, is a former football player, and together with his friends/football players, he opened the men's concept store Anthology, he also started a bakery/pastry shop, and the baked goods from it are sold not only in his own coffee shops, but also in other venues across Kyiv. His coffee shops have long become iconic places that people deliberately visit in the morning before work to enjoy a proper cup of coffee. So, the design of the coffee shop was meant to be not only beautiful, but also subtle enough not to scare off regular customers with drastic changes, because there is nothing sweeter in our rapidly changing and stressful life than holding on to traditions and rituals, which now create a foundation of stability and reconnect us with a past that felt happy and magical compared to the present.” – told Yana Molodykh about the project.
Coffee is a serious business at Frank: the owner uses coffee beans from the Kyiv-based roaster Cafeboutique, and has a lot of gadgets to make one of the best coffees in Kyiv. They came with their own challenges for Yana, who had to work around all of this machinery, and even make them look cool in the tiny, 19 square meters space. Her favourite items here are the Luna pendant lights designed by Gio Ponti, so she asked herself: “What if Gio Ponti came to Kyiv? What chair would he sit on, what kind of coffee would he order? Why would he end up in this coffee shop?”
One of the most striking materials she picked is stainless steel, which she used on the ceiling and skirting boards to visually expanded the small space. She combined it with a marble countertop and tiles by Mutina. The plan worked, when the owner walked it, he asked: „Have you moved the walls”?
Frank | web | Facebook
Yana Molodykh | web | Facebook | Instagram