Architectural studio Arch&Type has designed Blue Table Chocolates, a retail chocolate store in Buffalo, New York. The shop is defined by a sculptural ceiling based on an image of golden, silky, flowing untempered chocolate.
A parametric ceiling
The ceiling is made of custom parametric tiles. The design team modelled it digitally, and the pieces were CNC-milled, assembled by hand and painted. Tile fabrication was carried out by students at the University at Buffalo School of Architecture SMART Lab. The ceiling runs from the retail side of the store through to the chocolate workshop, linking the two areas.
Materials
The palette for the storefront combines gold, white oak, mirrored dishes and white marble concrete. A display vignette shows off the mirrored stands and magnetic labels.
Other details include a frameless lime plaster door with a brass base and recessed white oak shelving with LED lighting. The custom white oak millwork carries on into the workshop, where a marble table slab has tenon details.
Panels and plan
A detail of the ceiling shows how it is divided into separate panels, and the floor plan shows how the shop and workshop sit together.
As a general point, one strong ceiling element can give a small shop its identity, allowing the fittings below to stay quiet and practical.
Project credits
- Project: Blue Table Chocolates, Buffalo, New York
- Architecture and design: Arch&Type (Seth Amman and Adam McCullough)
- Client: Blue Table Chocolates (Ben Johnson)
- Millwork fabrication: McCullough Design and Mark Amman
- Parametric 3D modelling: Mariella Hirschoff
- Parametric programming: Dan Vrana and Wade Georgi (University at Buffalo)
- Metal fabrication: Buffalo Niagara Weldworks
- General contractor: Pike Construction Services
- Photography: Kim Smith
- Source: Contemporist