A compact Helsinki cafe by Anastasiia Korpaleva with a vaulted ceiling, blue-tiled bar, and toilet concealed behind a clear polycarbonate chain curtain

SUNA is a compact cafe in Helsinki designed by Anastasiia Korpaleva. The interior is organized around a high vaulted ceiling that gives the space more vertical volume than its footprint would suggest. The main hall divides into 2 clear zones: a long bench on the left accommodating 6 people, with a small retail corner alongside it, and a bar counter on the right finished in blue tiles and lit by a custom-made linear lamp. A separate table near the bar seats up to 4 people.

The most specific detail in the cafe is the toilet enclosure. Rather than building a conventional partition, Korpaleva concealed the sink and toilet behind a curtain made from clear polycarbonate chains. The material is industrial and transparent: it provides a functional division without closing the space off visually or introducing an opaque wall into a room that otherwise stays open. The curtain reads as part of the cafe's material character rather than a utility element added to the design.

The blue-tiled bar with its overhead linear light is the interior's defining visual element, set against a neutral palette throughout the rest of the space. The combination of the vaulted ceiling, the tile, and the chain curtain gives the cafe a distinct material register within a compact footprint.