Kettles Café Bistro Bar by DAAA Haus in Malta – All photos by David Zammit, courtesy of DAAA Haus.

Interior Design – “With the Kettles Café Bistro Bar project, we wanted to pay respect to Malta’s industrial revolution era through rough textures, deep tones and mixed media.” Keith Pillow, Art Director at DAAA Haus, told Archipanic. Originally designed by visionary entrepreneur and architect Lewis Victor Farrugia in 1950, the industrial building hosted Malta’s first brewery, Farsons, and is now home to a new concept space that links past and present, merging architectural languages with contemporary lifestyle.

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The Maltese studio decided to preserve the sunlight-filled iconic bow-window facade and three original brewing kettles at the centre of the space, some have been now decorated with planters to freshen up the ambience. By them, curved seating benches made from natural dark woods and fabrics and chairs in dark woods with hand-woven cane backrests revolve around the kettles giving life to an island of conviviality.

Concrete walls create a raw backdrop reminiscent of the venue’s industrial heritage. Due to structural alterations, some floors could not be retained and have been re-paved with traditional hexagonal mosaic flooring within the bar area.

Here, the bar facing the main entrance contrasts with rough textures. The front of the bar is clad in a book-matched Calacatta marble, giving the sense of a single large slab. The ceiling in Italian walnut wood creates a curved viewing platform also visible from the floor above you can reach through dramatic yellow stairs.

Restored copper and brass pipes and original copper beer lettering, contrast with metal meshes and menu pinboard. To separate the cafe from other co-working and entertainment areas, DAAA Haus used concertina gates. These are also a take on the former lifts, connecting all the brewery floors.

The bold colour palette reinforces the interiors’ materials. Sage hues nodding to oxidised copper, and copper-orange contrast with the black and white flooring. The photography used for the Kettles Café Bistro Bar plays on a juxtaposition of chiaroscuro representing the dramatic light changes in the space.

All photos of Kettles Café Bistro Bar are by David Zammit – Courtesy of DAAA Haus.