The flagship boutique and café is the latest inspiring experience to be created by Bateel in partnership with Kinnersley Kent Design. It takes the design concept to a
new level. For the first time it combines both a gourmet boutique with a café offer.
The original Umbrian menu now offer a fine dining experience, in addition to the coffee, pastry and all day dining menus.
The building, a former furniture store, comprises 3 levels and a roof. The ground and first floors now house the date boutique and cafes. The top floor has been turned into Café Bateel’s new headquarters for all of Saudi Arabia and with 2 new large kitchens to the rear of the café spaces, Bateel can now operate and stock a roll-out of future cafes across Saudi Arabia. The roof garden restaurant (opening soon) will offer spectacular views of the city.
The Architecture
The original façade of the building was completely removed and built out in a modern Arabic style as part of this extensive renovation programme. Three large double-height windows are framed by an elegant bronze detail pattern motif. The façade has been carefully proportioned with decorative balustrading to the roof top terrace. The first floor slab was cut back in a semicircle to realise the concept of a voluminous atrium. The 6m high glass windows and entrances now offer dramatic views into the long deep building. The double height space is flooded with natural daylight during the day. At night the building is illuminated like a beacon to the street since most shopping is done in the cool of the night.
The Boutique
The bespoke oval date boutique counter on the ground floor is highly visible through the full height windows and entrance doors. The mouthwatering product display of gourmet dates, chocolates and whole cakes, has a distinct and authentic appeal that pleases the eye and soothes the palate. The oval two-tiered custom designed counter allows the gourmet products to be displayed to its best with the product sweeping elegantly round.
Respectful to Saudi culture, the building has 2 main entrances, one for singles (men only) and one for families. Entrances at both sides of the boutique lead to the first floor via a spectacular marble sweeping staircase, without crossing into the family or single café areas. The marble staircase has an organic curved walnut handrail.
The same light Emperador Marble floor tiles are used throughout the cafes and boutique, complimented by a rustic and minimal materials palette of warm off-white painted pitted plaster, American Walnut and bronze detailing.
The boutique is decoratively and subtly screened from the cafes by a 3m high curved Arabic patterned fret cut panel, made of bronze. The panel radiates in circumference from the central atrium column in the middle of the oval counter and the bronze screens are divided by 5m high rich walnut louvres.
The Cafés
The cafés comprise two levels accommodating around 150 covers, an area for singles, families and a subtly screened area offering women-only cookery classes. The café design is contemporary European with an underlining Arabic influence. The café plays on a rich palette of muted shades of green, gold and dark rich timbers with bronze metal work and cream stone.
The walls are adorned with images from Bateel’s own date farms in Al Ghat. Even
the menu is distinct, combining Arabian hospitality with serving natural and healthy ancient Umbrian cuisine. The Tahlia Street menu has been extended to offer a fine dining experience, in addition to the coffee, pastry and all day dining menus,
thus catering for short, medium and long stay diners.
A beautifully designed and crafted decorative curved bronze and timber screen wall provides the backdrop to the boutique and screens the singles café from the family area. The singles café has cozy booth seating running around the perimeter and
a café counter at the back with a feature backdrop wall in Bateel green and henna pattern glass wall.
The signature café counter with coffee machines and mouth watering patisseries and cakes (made fresh daily by Bateel’s own chefs), are displayed in a curved refrigerated glass cabinet, set against a back drop of the signature green henna pattern.
In the centre of the ground floor café, a square hanging ceiling feature made of
walnut with a decorative fret cut pattern, allows illumination through from the
lighting above. The design also incorporates a hidden curtain rail that allows
families sitting underneath to be completely screened by luxury double-layered
silk curtains that only show a slight silhouette view.
The sweeping curved staircase leads up to the upper family area which is screened behind a bronze glass balustrade to provide privacy. Individual mobile, light-weight walnut and bronze screens provide additional privacy at the family’s discretion.
The first floor is cut back to the circumference of the curved circular screen at
the rear of the boutique, both formal dining and casual coffee seating radiate
around the curve, looking down over the balustrade to the atrium and boutique
below. The floor is balanced with perimeter banquette seating as well as
mid-floor dining table and chairs.
The cookery teaching area and counter appear from a foldable, hidden wall panel that allow the space to be transformed into a ladies only cookery class. The tall façade windows offer distant views of the street life below.
The Roof Garden
A dedicated customer lift provides access to the secluded roof garden (opening soon). The rooftop café provides a sanctuary in the winter months when the desert temperature is cool enough to enjoy the great outdoors. The café offers a tranquil setting, a fountain water feature and spectacular views of the city and Kingdom Mall on the horizon. The perimeter space of the roof are architecturally set out by 3m high vertical and horizontal walnut trellis beams that are partially screened off by silk curtains. Seating comprises of external dining chairs and tables and large low lounges and coffee tables. Private groups can enjoy dining in the private cabanas surrounding the water feature.
The newly refurbished building is a landmark destination for gourmets and date connoisseurs alike. Although the gourmet date boutiques are revered in Saudi Arabia, the Bateel Café concept is relatively unknown. Our local market research showed that there is either a coffee shop or a restaurant, not somewhere that offers coffee,
drinks and light meals, sandwiches and cakes, and fine dining all under one roof,
to cater for short to medium and long stay. Not only is this a new dining experience
for Bateel, but also for Saudi Arabia.
It was important to achieve that fine balance between being an open and vibrant
café that still offers privacy and subtlety to local customers, without imposing on
the mood and feel. We feel that we have achieved a flexible two-café space that
caters for many demographics including local women who wish to engage in
social cooking lessons in a safe environment. We have successfully introduced
the café offer to the Saudi market, offering the same quality and standards for
which Bateel is recognised for, both domestically and internationally.
Our aim was to create a stunning new gourmet dining experience for a diverse
range of clients and to give Bateel a presence in its native Saudi, befitting its
world class status. The new flagship provides a solid platform from which to
grow the café and boutique offer across the country.
There is a new landmark in Tahlia Street. Kinnersley Kent Design has renovated
an old nondescript building into a refined and beautiful piece of external and
internal architecture and introduced a new Bateel experience at this flagship
store in Saudi Arabia.