The Pastry Club Woda is a vibrant and contemporary social venue located in a former boilerhouse situated in the esteemed Rother’s Mill compound on Mill Island in Bydgoszcz, Poland. The 78 sqm project, executed by Znamy się and architect Paweł Tatara, has been designed to harmonize with the vibrant and contrasting nature of its surroundings. Upon entering, guests are greeted by a fusion of cobalt blue and warm orange hues, representing both productivity and relaxation. This combination allows for a gradual transformation of the atmosphere as the day progresses and the sun sets. The architectural team describes the space as a fusion of a club and a pastry shop, symbolizing the merging of two distinct energies – day and night, water and sun.
Mill Island, located in Bydgoszcz, is a renowned cultural center that is intricately connected to the inland water transportation of grain and flour production. In order to highlight this characteristic, Znamy się and Paweł Tatara have placed great emphasis on the interior design of Pastry Club Woda, with a particular focus on creating unique color compositions. The use of cobalt-colored flooring, bar, and equipment creates an illusion of water flowing within the establishment. Additionally, the streamlined bar divides the interior space, effectively guiding customers as they explore and gather. Ultimately, the design allows for a seamless flow of movement within the shop, mimicking the natural motion of water.
Rother’s Mills complex is composed of a grain and flour granary storehouse, as well as a middle section where the historic mill was located in the past. This is where the production of flour took place i.e., grinding, cooling, sifting, and packing, followed by the transport of the finished product to the flour granary. Different production processes took place on each floor by using modern machinery. The grinding required the use of millstones with characteristic grooves. The already grounded grain was transported to the 3rd floor, where the machines called Hopper-boy were distributing the freshly milled flour in order to cool it. On the floor, Hopper-boys were drawing circular raked shapes. Afterward, the product found its way to the 2nd floor into steel bolters to be sifted into flour, middlings, and bran. Packing the flour was the last process which took place on the ground floor. When finished, the flour was transported to the flour granary.
Considering that production is such an integral aspect of this place, it was impossible not to highlight it in the project. The division between the space available for the customers and the technological part is immediately noticeable upon entering the establishment. The open kitchen, equipment, and steel elements refer to the machines used in flour production. What’s more, the distinct, vertical grooves in the structure of the plaster bring to mind associations with millstones and the raked traces of the milled grain distributed by the Hopper-boy machines. Thanks to open technology, customers experience baked goods at every level of its production.
Those two complementary colors, cobalt, and orange, predominate the interior. Cobalt is associated with water, rawness, the technology of flour production, and flow movement. By day this establishment functions as a pastry shop. It is a bright, cool-colored technical place that contrasts with the displayed pastries and warm orange hue. Orange symbolizes the setting sun, the beginning of the evening, fun, warmth, and sweetness. In the evening, along with the sunset, this place changes its function and transforms into a club. The prevailing warm lights cause the cold cobalt to change its color, just like the water surface changes in the light of the setting sun.