If anyone is wondering where all the OSB went, it’s here at MASH, Amsterdam. The bar may only be a modest 32 m2 – one of the smallest in the city – but it manages to pack in plenty of the stuff nonetheless. Jeroen Vester, formerly of Dutch monster agency concrete but now head-honcho of his own firm ninetynine, was the man tasked with making maximum use of the compact premises.
There’s chipboard all over the show on one side of the venue, forming seating, and covering walls and supporting columns, hiding the sound system and air ducts and creating display points, but it doesn’t come across as cheap due to a clear varnish that’s been applied. Along the opposite wall, the bar dominates; it’s the only bit of furniture in the place. Designed in two sections, the stainless steel island is where all the bartending is done, and coming off that is a floating white table section for gathering around. Cunningly lit, MASH’s lack of loose furniture and the use of one cover-all material disguises its small dimensions.