Cool Spaces: Parconido Bakery Café by sukchulmok

WORDS Cheri Morris PHOTOS Hong Seokgyu via ArchDaily


Parconido bakery café by sukchulmok is part European square and part quintessential Korean minimalism. Think: perfect circulature, muted stone, harmonised spatial flow, calming geometry, high functionality and an almost-weightless interior experience.

Located in northern Gyeonggi-do, South Korea the design is led by the spirit of ‘sukchulmok’, meaning ‘the space should resemble the users’. Who are the users? An owner who lived in Italy for an extended period and those who seek escape and connection among aromas of home-baked goods and strong brews. Exactly this is achieved through the use of basic materials, simple shapes, and a consistent interior language of muted, high-end furniture, finishes and lighting – a continuation of the calming narrative in the nesting bird logo and the café’s slogan “nod in a doze”.

Parconido Bakery Café by sukchulmok  – inside view

A homage to European design but not a copy, the café takes its main inspiration from the sight of a sunlit square where people huddled to exchange joys between red brick buildings and stone pillars. In Parconido, columns surge and rounded walls in open air wrap the space. Both walls and columns have different shapes, but share a radius of 600mm for the creation of a sense of unity that simultaneously evades monotony.

Travertine limestone, suited for the fountains in squares of Europe, covers the floor, walls and ceiling. Angles in the indoor space are rolled and rounded so that the boundary of each side becomes faint and gives an illusion that it expands; an experience that induces the feeling of floating.


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