Café Höijer

Café Höijer in the Ateneum Art Museum, Helsinki

No trip to the Ateneum at the Finnish National Gallery in Helsinki would be complete without a visit to Café Höijer with its enticing aroma of freshly brewed coffee, wide selection of teas and numerous delicious dishes. Beautiful natural light streams in through the large arched window in this high-ceilinged room on the third floor. Monolithic columns rise from the green limestone floor to meet the elegantly arched ceiling, forming the perfect backdrop for this tastefully designed space.

Subtle gold accents are scattered throughout the room, on the large chandeliers, the wall sconces and the tabletops. Upholstered sofas and small tables line the walls of the café. Päivi Meuronen from JKMM Architects, who is responsible for the interior design, has chosen Thonet’s traditional coffee house 214 chair (formerly no. 14) in a light beech, positioning the chairs opposite the sofas at each table. “The long sofas and these classic chairs invite guests to linger, and there are even snail fossils to be discovered in the limestone tables. This combination creates the ideal setting for a classic café,” says Päivi Meuronen.

Thonet’s 214 model, which made its name as a coffee house chair, is an iconic piece and to this day regarded as the most successful industrially manufactured product in the world. It is the chair that marked the beginning of modern furniture. The starting point was a new technique, the bending of solid wood, which Michael Thonet perfected in the 1850s, making series production possible for the very first time. Thanks to its high quality and timeless aesthetics, the 214 is made to last and has been used in a wide variety of settings for over 160 years.

Café Höijer also features Thonet’s 204 MH barstools with moulded plywood seats, which are used at tables under the large window and blend beautifully with the harmonious interior. The beech legs of these stools are crafted using the traditional bentwood process. A tubular steel ring provides extra stability and also functions as a comfortable footrest.