Australian Design Review

Nabiha is an introspective café, offering refuge to visitors looking to escape from the barren suburban streetscape outside. Housed in a quirky leftover space in an anonymous-looking concrete office building, it is long and thin with an incredibly high ceiling.

The fitout slots warm materials into the concrete and glass frame of the tenancy. Blood red linoleum table tops are dotted throughout the café, while recycled timber floorboards wrap the wall and fold onto the ceiling. Strings of party lights add a sense of carnival. Timber screens perforated with images drawn by Melbourne artist, Rona Green, encase the curtain wall glazing. A striking banquet seat, created by textile artist John Corbett, runs the length of the café. Made entirely from vintage 1980s leather jackets, the seat adds a sense of nostalgia to the interior, inviting patrons to reminisce about days gone by.