Viruta Lab designs Nougat, a bakery in Valencia that evokes the aesthetics, the essence and the sweet aroma of a summer night at grandpas’ house.
The smell of freshly baked bread, pancakes with sugar, yogurt and lemon biscuits coming out of the oven. Memorable and familiar aromas that take you back to those endless summer afternoons at your grandparents’ house in the village. When the last streaks of sunshine fell on the washed-out green porch, on the unforgettable wicker rocking chair with the houndstooth cushion. Intimate and personal memories that evoke the essence of home.
This is how Nougat was born, a traditional bakery in the heart of Valencia. In this 55mq space, the creative architecture studio Viruta Lab brings back these memories to visitors through its interior design.
Originally, it was a cold place due to the bareness of its floors and its concrete structures. Thus, Viruta Lab designed large cabinets and pine wood cladding to give it a warm and friendly atmosphere. Furthermore, the studio eliminated the stainless steel from the materiality and neutralized the aesthetics of the gray palette that prevailed in the space.
The high ceilings are dressed by wicker grid panels placed at different levels, creating an immersive and cozy experience. These panels appear as a guiding thread of the space, a warm veil that contrasts with the industrial elements. This veil extends to the walls, the access doors and the irresistible bar. An original resource that also helps to diffuse artificial light sources while creating a homogeneous lighting effect.
In a space of reduced dimensions, the studio draws on the back wall of the counter different natural wood grids with a black background to bring geometry to the space and give rhythm to the perspective backgrounds.
Nougat’s color palette invites you to let your imagination run wild. A washed green tone, almost dreamlike, dominates the space. It is a color that evokes harmony and serenity, the magic and disconnection of summer nights. Its contrast with the wood and the troweled concrete of the floor materializes a very cozy interior design, full of traditional reminiscences.
Thus, Viruta Lab has created a bakery that recaptures the illusion of childhood, the affection in each cake that grandmother used to prepare, the feeling of calm and quietness when enjoying the endless hours of summer on the porch of the village house.
Location Valencia
Design Viruta Lab
Area sqm 55
Photos courtesy David Zarzoso
VIRUTA LAB
Viruta Lab was born in 2020 as a reflection of the artistic and architectural concerns of designers David Puerta and María Daroz. While he expressed his passion for art by painting on the walls, she trained in the rigorous and delicate discipline of classical ballet. Two lives perfectly blended, working in unison. And this is how their architecture shows itself: functional, balanced, sensitive and expressive. Organic, warm and timeless projects born from active listening, empathy and teamwork with the client. Residential, ephemeral, retail and contract spaces with a purpose: the emotion.
