Residents living five miles outside of Melbourne, Australia, are no longer next-door neighbors to Pentridge Prison, but Pentridge Village, which is getting something of a makeover now that Biasol: Design Studio has converted the jail into a comely coffee spot, aptly called Jury Cafe.
The prison was decommissioned in 1997, and it’s taken 17 years for the city to breathe new life into the space. In a recent interview with Dezeen, studio founder Jean-Piette Biasol says the chic yet spare interior is a response to the space’s former life. “We wanted to respect its dark past as a prison…the theme of irreverence led us to play with ideas—ideas that created a contrast between dark bluestone walls and a palette of bright colors and blond timbers.”
The color palette of black, white, pink, and blue creates a playful pattern on top of the grey concrete, a poetic nod to the space’s past. Plumen bulbs hanging from red cords by Nud Collection punctuate the room with dashes of color. On the walls the cords are cleverly arranged in geometric patterns.
Photos by Martina Gemmola.
