MĀSA

Māsa is a restaurant in Riga with natural wine and local products from Latvian farmers. The clients are a couple of restaurateurs specializing in gluten-free baking.

The new establishment is located next to their first project, the Better Bread bakery. The menu at Māsa was developed by Ukrainian chef Vova Tashaev. The clients deeply appreciate local products and wanted the interior to be modern while conveying a sense of locality, warmth, and authenticity. For their business, the clients chose a quiet part of the historic center of Riga, away from the main tourist routes, a neighbourhood favored by locals.

CONCEPT

We began working on the project when it was still planned to open under the name Butter Club, so Butter was the working name. During the creative process, the team came across the phrase “Life is like butter – when everything cools down, it can be transformed into something new.” The combination of the new establishment and its historically rich location inspired the concept: “The time is now.” We decided to create a space that would breathe new life into old elements while encouraging guests to embrace the present. Original finishes are responsible for the history of the interior, and comfortable soft shades and natural materials combined with bright and warm yellow accents add to the feeling of being in the moment.

In the process of realizing our idea, the establishment acquired its new name, Māsa, which means “sister” in Latvian. The clients envisioned a space that would feel like a cozy big sister's house. The interior has elements that carry a nostalgic and homely mood, such as embroidery in a vintage frame created by the owners' friends – such details make the space feel more lived-in.
Māsa's branding was developed by a local marketing agency, which introduced the concept of pixels: “We often cultivate so much energy into the big picture, we forget the pixels.” They symbolize the significant moments of our lives and are incorporated into the restaurant’s infographics, logo, and signage.

CONSTRUCTION

Māsa is housed in a historic building: the venue has undergone many transformations: first, it was a grocery store, then a casino, and finally a restaurant. The space is bright and airy, with large windows. During the dismantling, we uncovered layers of paint on the walls, each telling a story of the building’s transformations – we liked this effect and decided to preserve the walls as they were. The original cornice of a distinctive rounded shape also stretched along the perimeter of the room – we cleaned and painted it, leaving it in the interior of the future establishment.

The ceiling was covered with original shingles – out of respect for the residents of the house, we decided to leave this finish and cover it with acoustic panels, which increased the restaurant’s sound insulation. This reduced the ceiling height, prompting us to devise built-in solutions. As a result, the ceiling is not adjacent to the walls along the perimeter, and, with the help of lighting, it appears to float in the air. The pointing is unique – it recreates the facade's pattern: we used it alongside the windows, divided it into segments, and reproduced it as decorative seams. In this way, we honored the history of this building and welcomed it inside. A separate challenge was installing the ventilation system, which we concealed behind grilles. It needed to be as compact as possible to avoid disrupting the vision of the facade geometry. That's why we decided to integrate track lights into the cladding and free the ceiling from overhead lighting.

During the work on Māsa, the building's facade was restored and painted in a shade of paint coordinated with the city authorities of Riga.
Due to logistical challenges posed by the full-scale invasion, the team was unable to be present at all stages of the project, so designer Maria Milyaeva assisted with on-site supervision.

DESIGN

At the entrance, guests are welcomed by a small vestibule enclosed by a curtain. The main seating area is located around the perimeter of the restaurant, with a separate central dining area. There is also a bar counter in the center of the restaurant, which serves as an axis of symmetry – to the right is a bathroom and the entrance to the kitchen, to the left, is a cornered area with a kitchen delivery window. Since the space is small and there is little usable area, when developing the layout, we sought a balance between the advanced functionality of the kitchen and the number of seats, eventually finding solutions that would be comfortable for both the staff and guests.

Seating on the right

The entrance to the vestibule is covered by a gray curtain with cross-stitch symbols and patterns associated with childhood and family – there are images of a house, a sister, and a bunny. The embroidery visually echoes the concept of pixels. The seating area on the right features tables with chairs and a banquette that stretches along the wall, extending all the way to the window. We have integrated sockets and a cachepot with a lush plant into the banquette. From here, you can observe the entire hall – it is one of the favorite places for guests, and it’s sometimes chosen by companies that move tables together. The mirror reflects the entire hall, serving as both a photo zone and a tool to visually expand the space. On the wall, you can see the layering of the previous paintings, which remind of the layers of time in the room.

The central area

The central area consists of a dining table and eight armchairs and is the focal point of the entire interior and unites it compositionally. It is enclosed by a rounded side station that seems to sort of hug the seating. It was made to order according to our design to accommodate the future collection of natural wines. This area is illuminated by the Arco floor lamp – we adjusted the diameter of the side station and the carpet to fit its signature design and proportions so that the lamp was in the center of the dining table and the entire composition. The quartzite table top of the dining table was chosen to match the floor lamp base. We added a swivel part in the center to make it convenient for large companies to share food. Additional lighting on the side station is provided by Kizu lamps (New Works) and Milford table lamp Nature (Nordlux).

The armchairs in the central dining area are not identical – each of them is unique, although tinted in the same color. Our clients searched for them based on our references and bought them at local flea markets. Then the armchairs were tinted in the same color, and some were reupholstered as needed. Over time, visitors have their favorite chair, which they prefer while at Māsa. The central area is also visually separated by a round carpet with squares resembling pixels.
Seating in the window niches

To emphasize the room’s geometry, dark panels were added to the inside of the window arches – all three windows of the restaurant are the same size. In the two windows to the left of the entrance, the seating is symmetrical – tables with three Cesca chairs and Cesca armrest chairs by Marcel Breuer. The bases of the tables and hangers in this area are made of bare, scratched steel by the Ukrainian brand propro, and match the original imperfect plaster to create the effect of time interacting with the furniture.

Window panes feature small icons with the establishment's name, an image of a house symbolizing the family home, and the inscription ‘We often cultivate so much energy into the big picture, we forget the pixels’ mentioned above.
Seating on the left

To avoid the complete symmetry of the seating areas in the restaurant, as opposed to the banquette against the right wall, there are tables with four chairs on the left. There is a shelf along the wall, where one can conveniently place a bag or personal items; it extends the high skirting board that decorates the entire room. The idea is that, over time, the space will evolve, much like a lived-in apartment, gradually filling with books, magazines, plants, and paintings displayed on the shelf.

The wall in this area is adorned with square-shaped pixel paintings, each with sheet metal embossing. The designs represent various symbols, such as a hand holding a family home. In an old wooden frame, which seems to have been passed down from generation to generation, there is a cross-stitch embroidery – an image of a caring sister.

Bar

The recessed bar organically fits into the symmetrical space between the two arches. Along their perimeter, we used a profile that joins the plaster while also adding to the geometric design and enhancing a more modern, industrial vibe of the space. Additionally, it protects open corners in high-traffic areas. The counter is made of corrugated glass. The rounded shape is in tune with the cornice and the shape of the bathroom zone, and the glass binding – with the profile of the arches. The skirting board, which protects the bar facade from damage and dirt, is made of stainless steel. The back part of the bar is dark so as not to attract unnecessary attention, but the shelves are illuminated, which adds depth to the space. We placed Ondarreta stools near the counter to make the bar more inviting – here, guests can watch cocktails being prepared and chat with the bartender.

To the left of the bar is the serving area, with its countertop and inner bar made of stainless steel, as well as a custom-made side station next to it. The yellow partition in this area visually echoes the yellow accents found throughout the main hall, including the yellow glass blocks of the bathroom. It also separates the cold light needed for the operational area of the kitchen.
Bathroom

The rounded cornice around the perimeter of the main hall also inspired the shape of the bathroom – a semicircle made of glass blocks. On the one side, they are glossy to reflect light, and on the other – frosted to avoid being seen through and maintain privacy. The bathroom area is illuminated by an LED profile placed between the wall and the glass blocks. This area does not extend to the ceiling, leaving the technical utilities and ventilation exposed.

A key design element of the bathroom is the Antonio Lupi Albume sink in Ambra Cristalmood, which mirrors the transparency effect of the glass blocks. Next to it, a curved shelf for soap and napkin dispensers is built into the seam between the glass blocks. The full-wall mirror visually expands the space – we added lighting around its perimeter, which creates an appealing gradient on the glass.

For us, Māsa restaurant has become an experience of delicate interaction with space – we have embodied the images of time, care and comfort. The interior, reminiscent of an older sister's home, is waiting for new meetings in Riga.

Architects: Anastasiia Vinidiktova, Kateryna Denysenko, Anna Malenko, Anna Sukhanova
Creative Supervision: Slava Balbek
Project Managers: Daryna Ihnatieva, Marsiliy Krasniashchykh
Tech Design Support: Bohdan Makarenko