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Architects: Triopton Architects
- Area: 62 m²
- Year: 2014
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Photographs:Dimitris Kleanthis
Text description provided by the architects. The newly designed restaurant, Pitulka Eatery by Triopton Architects in Victoria Athens, adds a modern touch to the area with a sensibility to materials, culture and lifestyle. Defined as the “ancient pie”, the word Pitulka is one of the first reports to a Greek pie, approximately 7000 years ago.
According to Triopton Architects, "the significance of the historical railway station in Victoria plays a vital role in the design process, since it is one of the oldest, busiest and most important stations in Athens, connecting almost the entire region of Attica". The train as a design element inspires and determines the main idea of the interior design and decoration.
The design concept of "the train interior" creates an attractive dining option, as well as a casual environment allowing customers to escape from their daily routine. Pitulka Eatery, within 62 square meters, creates a particular atmosphere that can be traced back to older times, stimulating a sensory perception of the place. Through symbolisms the architect team offers a glimpse into the industrial evolution of the railway, which is based on modern creativity, enigmatic mysteries and nostalgic memories of the past decades. The objective was to "create an emotional connection with the customers by manifesting our core values".
Triopton Architects has combined concrete with wood and metal to support the initial concept design, reflecting the area's unique sense of style in this central location of Athens with plenty of foot traffic.
The space is parallelogram, wide and long like a train. Its facade is 4 meters long and it is 11 meters deep. The restaurant is divided into two levels: the ground floor, as the main area of the restaurant and the first floor for the restrooms and storage rooms.
One of the dominant features of the restaurant is the wall dedicated to the traditional Greek train "thirio". The wall consists of wooden planks that were used to make railway compartments, metal wall fans, old fashion pull down windows and old passenger train metal luggage racks that evoke the visitor's imagination. The opposite surface is made of glossy black tiles with orange grout combined with cyan colored metal ventilation pipes, characterizing the freshness of a contemporary restaurant. In the middle the volumes of exposed bare concrete function as industrial links connecting the present to the past.
The interior is completed by a scalable orange metal ceiling light chandelier, which was designed by the architects in order to meet the light requirements. The interior lighting elements not only satisfy the basic lighting needs, but highlight also the building materials as well as the intense colored decorations on both walls.
"A sense of immersion into the industrial/retro world of railway transportation surrounds the customer from the second they step into the interior area. Despite its small size, Pitulka Eatery is a designing experience and living example of vivid imagination".
