Holm and Dugges — one of the pioneers on Scandinavia’s constantly growing micro-brewery scene — are both based in Gothenburg, where beer bar and restaurant, run by top chef Gustav Trägårdh, Pils opened last week.
— For me, Dugges is all about quality, flavour, and experimenting, reflected in playful colour and patterns, says Holm. I usually don’t work so much with colour or patterns, but I definitely share their enthusiasm for experimentation and the quest for quality. I know how nerdy they are in everything they do and I saw great potential that this could be a very nice project. I was right!
Tell us about the interior design.
— We started with this idea to base this one — and, possibly, all future Dugges restaurants — on one of their beers. The first one is Pils. So I just treated the project as if Pils is a person. The Pils bottle is happy, popping with bright blue and green and the beer is a great, elegant pilsner that is easy to like and drink. We wanted the place to be a sort of beer restaurant with a wine bar quality to it. So, I wanted to base the interior on calm green colours and let the bright details pop through as sharp contrast. I’m especially fond of the bar with its Pils-patterned glass front and the Terrazzo top made out of old beer bottles. And when you visit, make sure you head to the restrooms. Too often I visit restaurants that didn’t make an effort to make nice and fresh restrooms and it really feels cheap and boring. Especially if the accessibility restroom is made with minimum effort. Here I had the opportunity to make the restrooms into walk-in sculptures.
Do you think that the current situation has or will change the design of restaurants and other public areas?
— Naturally, the short-term effect has been less people at the venues and more distance between the patrons, but when the coast is clear, people will go out more than ever and then we’ll be back to packing as much people inside as possible again. This year we have seen some amazing creativity from venues with, for instance, winter outdoor seating and even Guide Michelin restaurants offering take away ”cook your self baskets” for the weekends. I hope this creativity will be permanent, says Holm.
What’s up next for you?
— Several furniture projects, both commercial and one-off ones for secret clients, and hopefully we can get started on new Dugges restaurants in the near future. I’m also waiting for a client to ask me to design a private house, museum, or large public artwork. That would be very interesting. So, don’t be shy.
