Double Duty: A Cafe And Grocer That Transforms (Literally) Into A Bar At Night

It's always a tricky thing transitioning a daytime cafe into a spot that feels just as right for night, especially so when the establishment in question also happens to be a grocery shop. At Vienna's Super Mari, the day-to-night transformation has become a seamless routine, thanks to its cool gridded layout of ceramic tiles.

Owner Maris Fuchs enlisted Lukas Galehr of Madam Mohr design collective to help her make double use of the petite space. By day, the Italian cafe and grocer sells a collection of Italian products ranging from detergent to canned specialities to burro di buffala (butter made from buffalo milk), most of which are displayed on recessed ceramic shelving. Come nightfall, panels slide down over the shelves, blending them into the wall for a clean and more spacious-feeling interior that can accommodate 20-25 people. Besides the functional purpose of the white tiles, their bold use throughout the cafe lends a feeling of being inside a giant colorless Rubik's Cube. Check out the images below.

Now you see it...[/caption]
...now you don't. [/caption]
Using square ceramic tiles as a running design motif, Galehr created recessed shelving to showcase the Italian goods by day, and effortlessly disappear nightly.[/caption]
Aside from creating a more conducive bar atmosphere, the sliding tile design aids in other ways: "For legal reasons we are not allowed to see everything, for example, on Sundays," added Fuchs.[/caption]

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