Holt’s Café & Bar
Toronto
2020
The Holt’s Café comprises a series of rooms that each have their own character and ambience reflecting the modernity of the Bloor Street store.
The Dining Hall is largest room taking centre stage. Adjacent to the Dining Hall is the smaller and more intimate Dining Room lined in facetted wood panels and vertical mirrors with brass edgings.
The Lounge includes a central seating zone perfect for a more casual gathering of friends with a drink in hand. It has a clubbier feel. Beyond the Lounge and behind fluted sliding glass doors is the Private Dining Room lined in Electric Blue fabric.
The Bar becomes the focal point when viewing the café from the retail floor. The bar, large in size, rises from the floor as it is constructed in the same terrazzo.
Separation between these rooms is achieved by integrating slatted and ribbed sliding glass doors where movement and activity behind the screen can still be felt. Shapes and colours still bleed through.
Vertical brass strips add a level of detail and decoration to what is otherwise a fairly pared down aesthetic.
Glass shelves are purposefully kept low to ensure maximum visibility through the café and through the windows facing over Bloor Street.
Tall slender columns run the length of the café providing some screening from direct sunlight while creating a dance of light and shade within the interior that continuously evolves throughout the day. The Holt’s Café has a greater prominence from the street.
3-dimensionality to the ceiling is made possible by raising back lit stretched ceiling ‘moons’. These large apertures become beacons of light from the outside particularly during the darker hours.
All the design elements are by and large bespoke and meticulously crafted. The material pallet mostly consists of terrazzo, oak panelling, rosewood banquettes, faux leather, brass accents, mirrored stainless steel and various coloured fabrics set against white plastered and white lacquered relief walls. Colourful joinery interventions are strategically placed to offer surprise, vibrancy and playfulness.
Picture Credits: Eric Laignel