{"id":13009,"date":"2026-09-11T20:25:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T18:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apparis.hr\/en\/?p=13009"},"modified":"2026-09-22T09:38:53","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T07:38:53","slug":"beach-bar-surf-makarska","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apparis.hr\/en\/beach-bar-makarska\/","title":{"rendered":"Case study: Beach bar and art-deco"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The client asked for something that doesn’t exist in the Apparis catalogue: a professional beachfront hospitality unit<\/strong> that looks like a surf bar, works as a party zone and closes into a secure whole in a single move. We don’t just manufacture custom modular units \u2014 we design them from the first sketch<\/strong>. We found our inspiration in Streamline Moderne architecture: aerodynamically rounded volumes, horizontal speed lines and smooth roof bands inspired by nautical aesthetics.<\/p>\n

Our two key reference motifs come from the Streamline Moderne era \u2014 the 1920s to the 1940s. The first motif is precisely those coastal pavilions and their interiors \u2014 smooth rounded volumes with a rhythm of lines that become the landmark of a beach. The second is the classic bar cabinet with tambour doors \u2014 slats gliding along a curved track, hiding the entire bar inside an elegant oval form.<\/p>\n

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\"Streamline
Streamline Moderne interior (1930s) \u2014 rounded forms and a rhythm of lines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"art
Bar cabinet with tambour doors \u2014 slats following the curve<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

We merged those two motifs into a single object: the pavilion became the oval volume of the bar with its accentuated roof band, and the tambour slats were built at full scale \u2014 as accordion doors running around the entire perimeter, opening and closing with the same logic as the cabinet doors. The surf bar is, in essence, an art deco cabinet scaled up to architecture.<\/p>\n

The result is an oval surf bar that serves guests in 360 degrees, opens in under 5 minutes and arrives on site in one piece \u2014 ready for its first cocktail shift. So how do you get from a hundred-year-old reference to a unit working on a beach in Makarska today? Here’s the whole process \u2014 in numbers, sketches and welds.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The project in numbers<\/h2>\n
\n
[120+]<\/span>
\nhours of design and engineering<\/div>\n
15 m\u00b2<\/span>
\nof custom-built bar<\/div>\n
50+<\/span>
\naccordion-door slats<\/div>\n
360\u00b0<\/span>
\nof serving counter<\/div>\n
< 5 min<\/span>
\nfrom closed to open<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

The challenge: curve around everything the standard offers<\/h2>\n

A standard container is a rectangle \u2014 and a rectangle doesn’t serve guests from all sides or look like a beach landmark. Our task was to go around, quite literally, everything the standard offers: oval geometry means there is no off-the-shelf profile, fitting or track we could simply order from a catalogue.<\/p>\n

There was an additional operational requirement: a unit on a public beach must close every night into a secure, vandal-resistant whole \u2014 and open in the morning within a couple of minutes, without tools and without two workers on ladders.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The design process: from sketch to production documentation<\/h2>\n

The answer to both requirements was found precisely in the tambour principle from the inspiration photos \u2014 it just had to be proven at full scale. Through 3 design iterations and 10+ 3D visualisations, every custom bar we build goes through the same path:<\/p>\n

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  1. Brief and moodboard \u2014 together with the client we define purpose, capacity and visual direction. This is where the art deco reference was born.<\/li>\n
  2. Concept sketches and floor plan \u2014 we work out the oval geometry: counter diameter, slat radii, equipment positions and staff circulation.<\/li>\n
  3. 3D visualisations \u2014 the client sees the unit on the actual location before the first sheet of metal is cut.<\/li>\n
  4. Structural engineering and production documentation \u2014 every slat, joint and bracket gets a workshop drawing. Design, engineering and documentation are created under one roof.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \n
    \"3D
    \n\"3D
    \n\"render<\/div>
    Concept variants \u2014 the same oval geometry and roof band, three treatments of the perimeter: a full tambour shell, an open counter with a covered bar top, and a hybrid version. Each variant was tested on the actual location through 3D visualisation before the final one was chosen.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Structure and materials: built to withstand the coast<\/h2>\n

    Paper endures everything; the coast does not. Salt, UV radiation and wind are merciless to seaside equipment, so every material in the documentation was chosen against that criterion:<\/p>\n