Dezeen Magazine

Steel and concrete serving counter next to deep aubergine-coloured curtain in Ještě Jednu ice cream shop in Brno by Holky Rády Architekturu

Holky Rády Architekturu creates "fun" but compact ice cream shop in Brno

Arches and undulating surfaces fill this small ice cream parlour, which Czech studio Holky Rády Architekturu has designed in the city of Brno.

Called Ještě Jednu, the shop has a footprint of just 29.5 square metres but accommodates a kitchen, ice cream bar, freezer and coffee corner.

Steel counter with undulating front in Ještě Jednu ice cream shop
Arched forms feature in the interior of the Ještě Jednu ice cream shop in Brno

Local practice Holky Rády Architekturu – meaning "girls who like architecture" in Czech – said it wanted to make the interior a "fun" environment using the building's arched openings and ceilings as a starting point.

This motif is picked up throughout the shop in the form of sweeping lighting fixtures and stainless steel sinks, where staff and customers can wash their sticky hands.

Fridge with ice cream tubs next to stainless steel sink in Brno shop by Holky Rády Architekturu
Its serving counter is fronted by a fluted white concrete panel

The prep kitchen is separated from the main ice cream bar using a glass partition, which reflects the shop's pendant lights and makes the space appear larger.

"People behind the glass become the alchemists who prepare the frozen delicacies," said Barbora Kudelová and Kristýna Sirováa, founders of Holky Rády Architekturu.

Coffee machine on counter of Ještě Jednu ice cream shop
A reflective glass partition separates the kitchen from the ice cream bar

A calming palette of desaturated pastel colours was selected to allow the ice cream offering to stand out, while cool stainless steel surfaces reflect their surroundings.

The studio also incorporated subtle design references to the local area and to Italy – the birthplace of gelato.

These include the serving counter, which is fronted by a fluted white concrete panel that recalls both classical columns and the pillars of a 13th-century church nearby in Brno.

Similarly, the shop's stainless steel sinks nod to the water fountains that are often found in the streets of Italian towns and cities.

View from counter across Brno ice cream shop by Holky Rády Architekturu
Stainless steel sinks offer a place to wash sticky hands

Other ice cream shops featured on Dezeen include Little Sky in Melbourne, which was designed to capture the "theatre of gelato", and an Instagram-friendly store in central London that features cloud-like ceilings and neon signage.

The photography is by Barbora Kudelová.