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Architects: 71 ARQUITECTOS + Arqº. David Carqueijeiro
- Year: 2011
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Photographs:João Morgado
Text description provided by the architects. Halfway between the garden of the Principe Real and the Botanical Garden, we can find on the ground floor of a eighteenth century building the most specialized French pastry in the capital, "Poison d'Amour."
It was decided that the architecture should assume a role that dictated a discreet dialogue between the sum of light of all colors and the absence of color (black and white), scenario for a pageant of products that by itself are very colorful, ie, a neutral environment so that the patisserie française can shine.
We have created a belt, disconnected from all the original structure, and all the elements, walls, ceilings and floors were painted matte black, leaving only the sight of the stone cladding of limestone of the arc that is presented in the lobby. The immaculate white belt surrounds all spaces, creating a relation between the various compartments, and at the same time allows to support any kind of decorative intervention by the Customer. The belt allowed to pass most of the infrastructures from behind, relying on the support structure of the belt, and avoid the opening of rocky debris, thereby making the work faster and economical. All existing joinery were replaced by more slender steel profiles and without beams, allowing to establish a stronger link between the interior and the exterior.
The pastry develops from a wide entrance hall, divided by an arch. Perpendicular to the façade is the balcony of products on "Tiger Skin" limestone. In this room we can admire the exhibition of products, from the petit gateau to the colorful macaroons, served in the tea room on the left.
In the garden path we pass by the left side of the sanitary facilities, following the cafeteria and the respective counter also in "Tiger Skin". From the cafeteria we can see the garden / terrace which stretches itself over the botanical garden. The cafeteria area also accesses the Laboratory / kitchen, the sanitary facilities for staff and the storage area.
