Pétanque Social Club

The most interesting interiors often begin with something worth keeping. Pétanque Social Club occupies the site of a club dating to the 1930s, and its new life makes use of that history rather than treating it as an inconvenience.

For Kamal Laftimi’s project, DiegoandAlexeja Art & Design Studio worked with recovered materials and local artisans. Vintage sofa sets from La Mamounia sit within the mix, while a mural and ceiling by Marrakech artist Yassine Balbzioui add a more unruly contemporary presence. The result brings several generations of the city into the same social space.

It is exactly the sort of design story that interests us: reuse as a source of character, and art as something you spend an evening beside. A room can carry memory without becoming precious about it. Here, food, music and conversation give those objects another life.

Look beyond the obvious centrepieces. Notice the join between old and new, the relationship between a painted surface and the furniture beneath it, the way a garden changes the feeling of an interior. The whole is compelling because it has room for difference. That is a quality worth looking for in any place to spend a long evening.

The interiors are a highlight: original details from the 1930s club, restored and dressed with Moroccan craft. The menu is French brasserie with local produce.