Riyadh-based architecture studio Azaz Architects has imagined the interiors of a restaurant as a cloud that floats within the space in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 

Named Bofia_The Tiled Cloud, the studio was commissioned renovate the existing design with the typically unapologetic, blunt and straightforward style of the common “Bofia".

Bofia is a term coined in Saudi Arabia for the local canteens famous for serving quick, local and reasonably priced street food. 

The studio aimed to reflect the brand's style into a spatial arrangement, filled with colorful tiles and curved geometries inside. Calmness and chaos are detailed together with smooth transitions without straining the eyes.

The Tiled Cloud is Azaz Architect’s take on finding architectural solutions and material identities to modern-days upscale Bofia. 

Located in Riyadh within its own building, the studio uses simple geometry, straight lines and colors to enhance the features of the space.

"Bofias are a well-integrated street food typology in Saudi Arabia," the architects said. "So famous, this cafeteria style restaurant can be almost always nearby anywhere in the country." 

"This has made Bofias an integral part of the local food identity. However, Bofias have been left out of the flourishment of the industry in Saudi Arabia. For Azaz Architects, Bofia_The Tiled Cloud is an architectural fantasy turned into reality."

To contrast that, the team developed the project around the idea of creating a floating mass that creates a smooth transition between the areas inside the space and the exterior with its sharp angles.

The architects imagined the interior mass as a cloud that floats within the space to seamlessly separate and lift the busy back of house from the front of house areas. 

The public areas are allocated outside of the cloud and within a distance to allow for visitors to appreciate the architectural geometry created.

White tiles form the main language of the space, contrasting with silver metallic aluminum foam. The architects complement the interior space with a strike of light flying through the space to add a pop of color to the white tiled Bofia. 

Through smart light programming the design offers different story-telling to the space during day time and night time. 

According to the architects, the use of white and light colors "gives a sense of airiness and high natural light reflectivity." 

The same white tiles have a visual interestingly, visitor and observer opinions have been evenly split on whether the design is considered minimalist or maximalist. 

Ground floor plan

Mezzanine floor plan

Sections

Exploded axonometric drawing 

Project facts

Project name: Bofia_The Tiled Cloud

Designer: Azaz Architects

Design Team: Shahad Alazzaz, Abdullah Alazzaz, Alaa Suliman, Lena Abdali

Lighting Desgin: Light Func

Branding: Lot Studio

Tiles: DTiles

Furniture: Con.fort chairs by Opinion Ciatti

Aluminum Foam: Alusion  

All images © Mansour Alsoufi

All drawings © Azaz Architects

> via Azaz Architects