Cafe Beluga, Bonn

For the café Cafe Beluga at Clemens-August-Straße 51A in Bonn we made one long seat in chesterfield style, covered in red velour and carried along the whole wall of the main room. The length and the division into modules we set from that particular wall, not from a size in the catalogue.

Scope

Velour in a café works to a different rhythm from faux leather in a club

A café guest sits down with a coffee and stays an hour. They do not spill drinks, do not squeeze between table and back in a crush, and do not lean against the seat while standing. The surface wears more slowly, and differently, than in a night venue.

Under those conditions velour gives what faux leather never gives: depth of colour and a softness you feel when you stay seated. In a club we would have advised against it without hesitating. Here it was the obvious choice. The material is chosen from the rhythm of the venue, not from the category it sits in on a price list.

The piece as the only calm surface in a decorated room

The wall the seating stands against is covered by a mural. The interior has plenty of detail and plenty of colour, so here the furniture had the opposite job from the usual one: not to add, but to order.

The saturated red velour is the only large, uniform field of colour in the room. The seating closes the interior instead of competing with it, and at the same time it orders the table layout along the whole wall. A sofa carried in one run does in a room like that what a frame does around a picture.

What “continuous” means for a piece that arrives in parts anyway

No run of this length comes into a venue in one piece. We assemble it from modules, as standard at one metre or 1.2, maximum 1.4 linear metres, because that length passes through ordinary doors and stairwells.

So continuity is about where the joints end up and how they are made. We plan them at the drawing stage, and we choose the division from the length of the wall, not the other way round. With chesterfield buttoning that matters even more, because the pattern has to line up where two segments meet. Otherwise the break catches the eye more than the joint itself.

A café counts differently from a restaurant

A café sells a seat over a longer time for a smaller bill, so occupancy is counted differently from a restaurant serving dinner. In a venue like that a run along the wall is more efficient than tables with chairs on both sides, because it sets aside no space for pulling out a chair.

Per linear metre of seating we count about two places. For longer meals that drops to one table for four per 1.2 to 1.5 metres, because the guest needs more room around a plate than around a cup.

An order to Germany

Bonn is no exception. We deliver upholstered furniture to other venues in Germany too, and beyond that to France, Czechia and Hungary. The project runs identically to a domestic one, and the difference lies in the transport logistics and in the timing of installation.

Frequently asked questions

Why velour and not faux leather?

A café has a different rhythm of use from a night venue. The guest sits longer and more calmly, so softness and depth of colour matter more than resistance to spilt drinks.

Can a sofa run the whole wall without a break?

Yes, even though physically it consists of modules of up to 1.4 linear metres. We plan the joints at the drawing stage and place them so that the buttoning pattern lines up where the segments meet.

Do you make furniture in chesterfield style to measure?

Yes. In Bonn we made a continuous seat with chesterfield buttoning, matched to the length of the wall. The catalogue also holds CHESTERFIELD as a starting model.

Do you deliver furniture to Germany?

Yes, and not only there. Besides Germany we have furnished venues in France, Czechia and Hungary.

How many seats does one linear metre of such seating give?

About two. In a restaurant with longer meals you should rather count 1.2 to 1.5 metres per table for four.