Dancing Under The Tales of Mediterranean
Project
Mr. Moonlight
Client
MATOA Group
Location
Husein Sastranegara, Bandung
Design
Studio Wangun
Size
672 m2
Year
2021
The sight of airplanes; landing and taking off decorates the ambience of the outdoor seating area of Mr. Moonlight. This mediterranean styled bar is a spot for leisure and night time fun combined with one of a kind attraction as it is located in Bandung’s critical eleven area, a complex of cafes and restaurants for the youngsters that faces right over to the city’s international airport runway. We renovated the site from an old office of Indonesia’s air force, which was also said to be the office of Indonesia’s third president Mr. B.J. Habibie. The condition of the existing building was so old and worn out that we needed to take apart most of the interior’s shape to deliver the intended design. However, the choice of site works for our building process and choices of material as we aim to build a bar with rustic concept combined with a Mediterranean vibe as the bar also features a swimming pool in its outdoor seating area. The building itself consists of a ground floor and a mezzanine floor with a bar area, indoor seating area, live performance stand, kitchen, and outdoor seating. To bring the concept alive we explored material treatment, experiment with ingredients for the building, and several finishing processes that became a fun and experimentative experience. Furthermore, building the outdoor seating area was a lengthy process as the bar offers this area to be one of its main features. We aimed to build and bring the Mediterranean concept alive while accommodating the plane-seeing spot in this seating area for visitors to party and enjoy the leisure.
The rustic concept is expressed through the washed finishing throughout the building’s walls. It was a proud process to cover such a large surface as the finish was accomplished by hand-made work. The outdoor area serves as an alluring spot for the eye, with airplane sightseeing experience complemented by sunset sky during evening. The VIP seating area offers an ample sightseeing spot for the sky with an even wider perspective of the surroundings. Furthermore the outdoor area features a swimming pool with a customized shape, where unique looks meet the functionality of the pool. An aesthetic experience without sacrificing the comfort of dipping into a peculiarly shaped pool involves a lot of experimentation in the build process; one of the features we put forward. Eventually the materials and furniture used are combined in such a way to deliver a beach atmosphere, the plain and simplicity of material finish that unexpectedly takes multiple and complex processes to achieve a sandy look.
Mr Moonlight bar is an interesting build to accomplish. The washed rustic style that we aim to present is also displayed in the facade exterior, exposed to direct natural weather. Maintaining the sustainability challenges for this part while balancing the timeline accomplishment by using easily processed material and delivering the desired looks took our extended expertise into practice. We also applied customized flooring material to deliver a sandy and beach pebbles look into the outdoor area. Fully customized material tends to be delicate during the application process with dents and dirt marks, precision and trial and error become the main priority in our approach. Furthermore, the existing plumbing system needed to be completely checked as it was found to be worn out and could not be utilized for the new layout. We had to rebuild the whole plumbing system to accommodate the new use of the building. However, playing with an all round use of customized material; from the structural and principal parts to the miniscule details became an engaging experience for us. Freedom to apply design into the real site gave us an opportunity to get creative. Paired with the meticulous detail that is needed in the material application it gave a lot of lessons in the building process.
