Located just outside the old town of Ljubljana, Slovenia, on a leafy street next to the Gradaščica river, Lolita Eipprova Café & Patisserie’s charming setting is a fitting prelude to the artisanal interiors that boldly blend architecture, handicraft and art. Conceived by Andrej Mercina, director of local architectural practice TRIIIJE, as a sustainable gesamtkunstwerk, or total work of art, the space is an amalgamation of recycled materials, re-used furniture and an artistic installation by Slovenian visual artist Jaša Mrevlje-Pollak, artfully integrated with the property’s centuries-old building fabric. The result of such a hands-on approach is a venue that feels like it has been spontaneously handcrafted on the spot, and in a way it has. “No one can draw this, no 3D visual can illustrate it”, Mercina explains, adding that the project has been mostly designed on-site in direct collaboration with local craftspeople.

With sustainability positioned at the very heart of the project, the TRIIIJE team repurposed as many materials as possible from the building site as well as other construction sites and second-hand suppliers, managing to reduce the need for new materials to less than 30% compared with a conventional fit-out. But what makes this renovation stand out more than anything is its artisanship whereby the building shell became a raw canvas for the team to unleash their creativity using a palette of recycled materials and furnishings.