Die Station - Culinary stop in Basel
Getting advice on stocks over antipasti or enjoying a delicious bowl while opening a bank account is contradictory? A new restaurant in Basel proves the opposite with its concept. The name "Die Station" does not hide a stop at a train station, but an innovative bistro in the customer zone of Bank Cler at Aeschenplatz in Basel. Die Station opened on January 24 and surprises with an unusual gastronomic concept. The Swiss Store Makers from umdasch were responsible for the design concept, the furniture construction and the implementation and thereby created an exciting symbiosis of gastro area and customer zone.
In order for a bank to also appeal to younger customers, it is nowadays necessary to attractively stage the branch as a meeting place with experiential character. For this reason, Bank Cler engaged the experienced food blogger and restaurant tester Tom Wiederkehr for the conception of an innovative gastronomic meeting place. From now on, the restaurant "Die Station", which is seamlessly connected to the bank premises, presents itself during the day as a modern gastro-meeting zone, where bank customers, passers-by and gourmets alike can enjoy themselves. Regularly changing culinary delights from all over the world combined with local and seasonal ingredients promise that customers will never get bored from a gustatory point of view. After business hours, Die Station - separated from the bank branch by a glass wall - is transformed into a hip bar.
Die Station – the name says it all
Julia Mitteregger, interior designer at umdasch, was responsible for the design concept of Die Station and provides insight into the idea behind the concept: "Numerous elements in the gourmet bistro are inspired by the visual and formal language of a train station. The menu board, for example, resembles an old-fashioned drop leaf display board - except that instead of train departure times, it provides information about delicious dishes. Acoustically, the station atmosphere is enhanced by the typical rattling sound of the letter sheets turning over." In addition, the clear zoning signage, as is common in train stations, is also used in the new eatery. The coffee, bowl or pastry counters are boldly labelled and their design resembles modern-interpreted ticket counters, allowing customers to quickly get an overview of the culinary delights available.
Moreover, the store makers from umdasch placed high metal shelves in the bench area, which resemble the luggage racks from trains. The characteristic colours blue and red, which are familiar from the context of train stations due to their good visibility, run like a (blue) red thread through the entire restaurant concept. These two strong colours are combined with white and beige tones as well as light wood, clean mosaic tiles and round, soft shapes. Black metal bar stools and tables provide a delightful contrast to the light colour scheme, recalling the iron structures of the train stations from an older era. "All these elements," sums up Swiss branch manager Anna Herzig, "are intended to give guests the feeling of being in the dining car of an old train and send them on a culinary voyage of discovery during their lunch break that will make them forget their stressful everyday lives."
"Delicacy store" for gourmets
The gourmet store "Das Depot," which is directly connected to Die Station, offers the delicacies from the bistro for sale, but also invites customers to spend more time there. Customers can expect an extensive range of delicacies, including exquisite wines and selected delicacies, amid a similar colour and design concept as in the bistro. As the name suggests, Das Depot is intended to look like a storage area in a train station. With this in mind, the Store Makers from umdasch have designed the deli in the style of a warehouse - high shelves on the walls and the use of ladders create this effect.
Gastronomy meets store design
Knowing the requirements of gastronomy and designing, planning and implementing appealing store concepts - at one and the same location, the Swiss Store Makers from umdasch were able to impressively demonstrate several of their core competencies and reinvent the gastronomy area of Bank Cler's customer zone together with Tom Wiederkehr. The entire process from the design concept to the implementation of the furniture and store construction was in their experienced hands. What resulted - a unique gastronomy concept that you would not expect to find behind its name "Die Station" at first glance.
