Designed by: @duaabukhalaf.studio

Captured by: @aylulstudio

Athar Café reinterprets the architectural and social language of the traditional Emirati house, placing the dekka—a built-in bench traditionally used for gathering and hospitality—at the centre of its contemporary identity. As the first location of the Emirati café brand, the project by Studio Duaa Abukhalaf takes its cues from traditional house façades and their relationship to everyday social life. Rather than reproducing heritage directly, the design draws from a restrained vocabulary of solid façades, simple openings, niches, horizontal lines and defined thresholds.

Traditionally positioned along the exterior of the house, the dekka offered a place for residents and neighbours to gather over coffee or tea. At Athar, it becomes a continuous built-in seat running along the café’s main elevation, integrated into the architecture rather than treated as furniture. It establishes a social edge between the interior and the surrounding public space. The same language continues inside, where predominantly solid walls are articulated with recessed horizontal lines, ribbed surfaces, niches and arched openings. Depth, shadow and texture take the place of direct ornament, while semicircular forms appear across the counter and display pedestals.

The material palette combines limestone, dark timber, mineral finishes, metal and Leukeather, a UAE-developed plant-based material made from discarded dried pods. Its naturally irregular texture and reddish-brown colour appear across the main counter, display pedestals and sections of the fascia behind the Athar signage. Materiality also relates to the café’s name: Athar translates from Arabic as “trace” or “impression.” Vertical grooves, horizontal recesses and the linear texture of Leukeather repeat this idea of marks across the interior.

At the centre of the café, the main counter becomes the most expressive element. Rounded display volumes rise from its surface at different heights, accompanied by dark metal semicircular forms that abstract the arch into a contemporary geometry. Ceramic vessels and natural arrangements give the counter a domestic character, while the coffee-making process remains visible to customers. This turns preparation and serving into part of the experience, recalling the role of coffee in Emirati hospitality. Throughout the space, openings frame key functions, particularly the dekka and coffee counter, placing gathering and serving at the centre of the café.