Waffle House Naxos

A31 were asked to design the retail space for the Naxos Waffle House on the island of Naxos. The refurbished design had to consider the discordant and unruly built environment of Naxos’ Chora waterfront, the proposal resulted in an elegant and discreet design gesture.

The fully glazed, sea-facing storefront opens up in its entirety and seamlessly draws the public from the busy street outside into its 4.6m high interior, blurring the boundaries between exterior and interior, public and private space.

The main space is divided into client and staff areas by a continuous bespoke counter that hosts two checkout stations, pass, ice cream display case, toppings and coffee station. A corridor leads guests to the bathrooms into the back of the store, accessible through a shared vestibule, while the staff can continue onto the back of house areas. A white metal staircase leads to additional storage and prep space in the store mezzanine.

Prominent interior walls, finishes and other functional architectural elements are composed of stacked rectangular modules made of Ultra High-Performance Concrete. These building blocks make reference to the geometry of local vernacular dovecotes, still present on Naxos (e.g. in Melanes village) as well as on other Cycladic islands.