Hey archi enthusiasts!
I am back but not with some inspiration for home renovation or renovation progress. But I am sharing a recent place I went to that are current on trends in Indonesia. This type of interior design is the go-to trendy cafe in town. Interestingly, coffee and cafe business have adapted to less modernity but going back to a style called “ Peranakan architecture” or can also be called Sino-Portuguese. These characteristics can be found throughout countries like Singapore & Malaysia where both have predominant Chinese settlers. Though, today I am talking more about the interior of this type of architecture style.
The place I was going to is called Gang Cuan Kopitiam. Just like its name actually the place is a Kopitiam, a coffee establishment that is commonly found in Singapore and Malaysia. This Kopitiam sells butter coffee and also Singaporean/Malaysian styled toast. So, typically with such strong affiliation, the place has to live up its name.
Interestingly, this Kopitiam trend started around mid last year to early this year in Indonesia. That creates its own sensation and a lot of businessmen soon buy old houses and re-decorate them with Sino-style interior and furniture.
In this typical establishment, the tricky part is making the vintage look trendy and hip . At the same time, trying to incorporate older furniture style that makes it eye-catching for visitors. Uniquely, people still go to these places not just because of the food but also the aesthetic that the place has to offer. So, the owner of these places has to make sure that the place is unique enough while comfortable so people would want to go back for the second time.
In this particular kopitiam I visited, they even have an outdoor location that is massive. Unfortunately, it was raining so you could only see the dark photos of it. As for the indoor location, the place has many rooms that turned into a cozy and homey place for people to chat and spend quality time together. As you see above, that is the kind of furniture that is typically used in these Kopitiam. It is a classic wooden chair during that bygone era that when used properly will adorn a space and make us transform to those eras.
Sorry for skipping over the entrance but something that could not be missed is definitely a massive yard entrance and the long large windows that adorn the place. Although these are also typical houses built during the Dutch occupation, adding some colors such as red and green changes its whole atmosphere and vibes.
The entrance has some Chinese actors posted on the wall. There are also wooden chairs surrounding it where people could sit on the massive patio. While it looks pretty humble, it shows that this establishment is also quite wallet-friendly. It certainly wouldn’t break your bank to dine and drink in this space. In my opinion, the front part of the establishment can be a marker for the price that is offered in a place.
My favorite spot in the space has to be this combination of wooden display and also this green curtain that really adds characteristic into the space. And the cashier area was made so simplistically just like you can also see below.
Meanwhile in the middle, they tried to create a private space where two people could talk and spend quality time. The table has two types one which is semi private and elevated, another is an open table where people could sit and chat away their troubles while eating yummy food. The elevated table is pretty interesting because it’s located in the hallway but it has this sense of privacy in it. I think this is one of the clever ideas of the owner to use this type of chair inside the place.
Overall, the ambience of peranakan architecture was also built through the accessorial items that are found across the areas. It’s why when you’re trying to build a piece of architecture work, tiny bit of detail matters because that also contribute to make and break of the experience. See you in more architectural story like this!
 | 𝘔𝘢𝘤 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘢 & 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘳 . 𝘈 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨, 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯! 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘱𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘈 𝘳𝘦-𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰. |
You have to come back on a day when it's not raining and share that open space again that surely has more to offer hehe. I like that it looks like a very picturesque house, so different from the coffe that I usually frequent in my city...
yes! I am definitely going back soon esp during morning hehe.
English
Ah wow but how wonderful, I didn't know that the concept of a coffee shop was in these places, in fact I never expected the butter coffee 😱, I'm not a fan of coffee but I am a fan of butter and I would really like to try one of those 😋.
A traditional place to spend with good friends, in my country these photos especially the one of the patio so to speak reminds me a lot of places where you can play balls and drink beer 😅
SPanish
Ah caray pero que maravilla, no sabia que como tal el concepto cafetería estuviera por estos lugares, de hecho no me espere nunca el café de mantequilla 😱, no soy fan del café pero si de la mantequilla y vaya que me animaría a probar uno de esos 😋
Un lugar tradicional para pasar entre buenos amigos, en mi país estas fotos sobre todo la del patio por decirlo asi me reordo mucho a sitios donde se puede jugar bolas criollas y beber cerveza a mas no poder 😅
Butter coffee is really good. I think a person should really try it at least once in their lifetime. Anyway, thanks for checking it out 😊
The interior decoration is colorful and the atmosphere is cozy, it looks like a family home, I hope you can come back soon and enjoy a delicious coffee outdoors, on a day without rain.
Greetings!