An ice cream-inspired colour palette

Not far from the end of the eastern coast of Kassandra, the westernmost of the three fingers that make up the Halkidiki peninsula and the first that one encounters when travelling from Thessaloniki, stands the lively Greek seaside resort of Pefkohori. Set amongst hills dotted with Mediterranean maquis and olive groves, the town boasts a splendid view of the sea and a long sandy coastline. Here, in a central seafront location, the Ocean Beyond Blue ice cream and coffee shop was opened in the early summer of 2019. «The site, consisting of a 96 square metre interior and a 63 square metre outdoor space with private beach, previously had a completely different use and was originally organised as an open-plan space with just one bathroom. It would certainly have failed to meet the new functional requirements. So we decided to demolish the old bathroom and redesign the new spaces from scratch,» explained architect Nikos Nikakis who oversaw the project. «The site had to meet a number of constraints dictated by its use in the catering sector. In particular, it needed a kitchen and a separate room with large freezers for ice cream, a storeroom, two bathrooms, a main seating area for customers and an office with a private bathroom and shower. Given the height of the ceiling, we also decided to create a metal mezzanine in the back half of the room and house all the auxiliary services underneath it. On the top level we created a storeroom that would be accessible via a rear staircase. In the front half of the premises we maintained the original height of the ceilings and created the main seating area, positioning the tables and chairs on the right and the freezers and cash register on the left.» In the outdoor space in front of the shop, the obsolete awning was replaced with a new canopy equipped with a movable central section that can be opened after sunset to provide natural ventilation during the hot summer nights. «The concept of ice cream provided the main inspiration for the interior design and dictated the colour palette of the entire project,» explained the architect. «The main colour is pure white, further accentuated by the secondary vanilla and chocolate shades which also emphasise the design details. The decorative elements are simple and never intrusive. Ice cream is also used as a graphic element throughout the shop, as can be seen in the stick ice cream motif that inspired the back of the dining area sofa.» Because Ocean Beyond Blue is only open during the summer, the architect wanted to recreate a fresh and relaxed atmosphere that would be ideal for a restorative break. While the pale colour palette partly serves this purpose, the entire design of the space also plays an important role in creating a cool atmosphere, such as the high wave-shaped ceiling of the main room reminiscent of the sea and the diversified lamp designs. This applies not only to the furniture, whose shapes and colours blend harmoniously into the overall design, but also to the finishing materials. In particular, the Shards (Small White, Small Grey) and Infinito 2.0 (Calacatta Gold, Ombra di Caravaggio) series porcelain tiles from Fondovalle play a vital role as the surface coverings for floors, walls, bathrooms and furnishing elements such as the work counter, the coffee shop shelves and the customer tables.