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    Renovated Mayfair pub The Audley is filled to the brim with art

    Artworks by Andy Warhol, Lucian Freud and more can be seen throughout The Audley pub and its restaurant in London’s Mayfair, designed by architecture studio Laplace.

    The venue occupies a listed five-storey building dating back to 1888, which formerly functioned as a pub with rooms for staff upstairs.
    Laplace designed The Audley pub (above) and its restaurant (top image) in LondonNow, the ground-floor public house has been restored while the upper levels were converted into the Mount St Restaurant, complete with four private dining rooms.
    The renovation was commissioned by Artfarm – the hospitality company of Hauser & Wirth founders Iwan and Manuela Wirth – with the aim of upgrading the pub’s interior while preserving its original features.
    British artist Phyllida Barlow has created a colourful collage on the pub’s ceiling”The word Audley is English Anglo-Saxon for ‘old friend’ and the pub has been an old friend to people who live and work in Mayfair ever since it opened in Edwardian times,” said Artfarm’s CEO Ewan Venters. “We wanted it to remain just that.”

    “This area is so rich in culture and history, and where better for those stories to continue than at the local pub?”
    Mount St Restaurant sits above the pub on the building’s first floorFrench studio Laplace was selected to lead the pub’s redesign, having already worked on a number of Hauser & Wirth’s international art galleries including its outposts in Somerset and on the Spanish island of Menorca.
    In the ground-floor pub, the studio freshened up the woodwork and brought in a team of specialists who, over the course of eight weeks, hand-polished almost every surface of the interior.
    Restoration work was also carried out on The Audley’s 19th-century clock and fireplace, and a new chestnut-brown leather banquette was installed.
    Artworks cover every wall of the restaurantThe ceiling is now covered in a newly commissioned collage by British artist Phyllida Barlow. It comprises brightly coloured sheets of paper that were pasted into an abstract pattern, at points forming arch shapes that mimic the curvature of the pub’s windows.
    More artworks by the likes of Turner Prize-winner Martin Creed and Canadian artist Rodney Graham were mounted on the walls.
    The salt and pepper shakers take cues from artist Paul McCarthy’s Tree sculptureThe Audley sells traditional pub snacks while in the upstairs Mount St Restaurant, a full menu of classic London dishes is on offer.
    This first-floor space is jam-packed with art pieces including a self-portrait by Lucian Freud, a lobster print by Andy Warhol and an abstract landscape by painter Frank Auerbach that depicts London’s Primrose Hill.

    Laplace and Piet Oudolf transform 18th-century naval hospital into Hauser & Wirth art gallery

    The floor is taken over by a bold mosaic created by American artist Rashid Johnson and made up of different types of marble. Another American artist, Matthew Day Jackson, is responsible for the crimson-coloured dining chairs with wriggly frames.
    Art also inspired the restaurant’s finer details; the salt and pepper shakers are modelled after Paul McCarthy’s playful sculpture Tree while the lamps that centre each of the leather-topped tables are based on Swiss artist Sophie Taeuber-Arp’s work Powder Box.
    “We have created coherent spaces in which art and design flow naturally, avoiding the pitfalls of obsolete artistic or aesthetic statements,” explained Laplace.
    The Swiss Room is one of four private dining rooms on siteThe project also saw the studio create four private dining spaces on-site, which are available for hire.
    On the building’s second level is The Swiss Room, designed to celebrate the nationality of Iwan and Manuela Wirth, who founded Hauser & Wirth together with Ursula Hauser in Zurich in 1992.
    Here, the parquet oak floor was stained brown, red and teal-blue to emulate a watercolour by Taeuber-Arp.
    Palazzos inspired the rich look of The Italian RoomNearby is the Italian Room & Bar, which draws on the aesthetic of grand palazzos. Its walls are painted a rich mustard-yellow hue, while deep-green Verde Alpi marble from Italy was used to craft the countertop of the bar and the flooring.
    The building’s third level accommodates The Scottish Room with a nine-metre-long oak table at its centre surrounded by hand-carved chairs, each inlaid with a custom tartan designed by weaver Araminta Campbell.
    Directly above hangs a dramatic antler chandelier.
    An antler chandelier is the focal point of The Scottish Room. Photo by Sim Canetty-ClarkeFinally on the fourth level is The Games Room, which Laplace styled to have the feel of a “clandestine enclave”.
    It features tasselled ceiling lamps, a blood-red tufted sofa and a one-off rug made by Laplace in collaboration with the former assistant of French-American artist Louise Bourgeois.
    At this level, guests can also see the inside of the building’s turret, which features an erotic fresco by British artist Anj Smith.
    Plush furnishings fill The Games Room. Photo by Sim Canetty-ClarkeLondon’s affluent Mayfair neighbourhood is a hotspot for bars and restaurants.
    Among them is the recently-opened Bacchanalia, which features giant mythology-inspired sculptures by Damien Hirst, and The Red Room bar inside The Connaught Hotel, which is designed to feel like an art collector’s home.
    The photography is by Simon Brown unless stated otherwise. 

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    Dezeen's top 10 restaurant and bar interiors of 2022

    For the latest roundup in Dezeen’s review of 2022, we have selected 10 restaurant and bar interiors published this year, including a coastal cocktail bar in Italy and a space-themed cafe in South Korea.

    This year’s roundup 0f restaurant and bar interiors also features a European-influenced eatery in a palatial hotel in Salt Lake City, a bar with floors that were designed to look like the flooded streets of Venice and a monochromatic Chinese restaurant.
    Read on for 10 restaurants and bars we covered in 2022:
    Photo by Edmund DabneySketch, UK, by Yinka Shonibare and India Mahdavi
    Artist Yinka Shonibare and architect India Mahdavi replaced the famous pale pink interior of London restaurant Sketch with warm, golden yellows and textured materials.

    “I didn’t want everybody to ask me what the new colour at the gallery is and therefore, I really worked on textures and materials that are evocative of the richness of Africa,” said Mahdavi. “Warmth is the new colour at Sketch.”
    Find out more about Sketch ›
    Photo by Brian W FerryLaurel Brasserie and Bar, US, by Home Studios
    Designed by Brooklyn-based architecture and interiors practice Home Studios, the Laurel Brasserie and Bar is a restaurant inside Salt Lake City’s The Grand America Hotel.
    The hotel was built in a palatial style and includes interiors based on classic European designs. Home Studios retained the brasserie’s European influences but added a contemporary look, incorporating bold and colourful areas to suit family-style dining.
    Find out more about Laurel Brasserie and Bar ›
    Photo by Gregory AbbatePiada, France, by Masquespacio
    Spanish interior design studio Masquespacio used design elements from traditional Italian restaurants to inform the interior of this Italian eatery in the French city of Lyon.
    Booth seating in hues of lilac and nude line the restaurant between wooden tables, chairs and tiled mint-green walls and floors.
    Find out more about Piada ›
    Photo by Peter Paul de Meijer/Eline WillaertBlueness, Belgium, by Space Copenhagen
    In Antwerp, interior design studio Space Copenhagen combined original carved sandstone and marble columns with contemporary Scandinavian furniture to decorate Blueness, a French and Japanese-influenced restaurant.
    A custom bar crafted from red walnut wood by Brussels and Antwerp-based design studio Destroyers Builders was inserted into the space and paired with brushed steel surfaces, dark wooden barstools and a cast aluminium waiter’s station.
    Find out more about Blueness ›
    Photo by Carlo OrienteCivico 29, Italy, by Gae Avitabile
    Ocean blues, wave-like forms and nautical materials fill the interior of Civico 29, a coastal cocktail bar by architect Gae Avitabile in the seafront town of Sperlonga in Italy.
    An aluminium mesh curtain that moves as wind blows through the bar lines two walls of the space and complements a waving, blue-to-white gradient bar that references the nearby ocean and sits at the centre of the space on top of dark red-and-white floor tiles.
    Find out more about Civico 29 ›
    Photo by Jeremie Warshafsky PhotographyBao, China, by StuidoAC
    Canadian design firm StudioAC used a skewed perspective to draw visitors’ eyes to the open kitchen at the rear of this micro-cement-lined Chinese restaurant.
    Cubic and rectilinear tables and benches were similarly clad in micro-cement and line the walls of the restaurant beneath rows of vertical vinyl blinds that were concealed within bulkheads but visible enough to provide a shimmering, sequin-like look.
    Find out more about Bao ›
    Photo by PION studioSyrena Irena, Poland, by Projekt Praga
    Set within a 1950s building in the centre of Warsaw, Syrene Irena bistro designed by Polish architecture firm Projekt Praga combines contemporary and mid-century features.
    The self-serve restaurant uses mid-century design references such as terrazzo-style tables, neon signs and frosted glass sconces to nod to the building’s history as well as the restaurant’s nostalgic menu.
    Find out more about Syrena Irena ›
    Photo by Piotr MaciaszekVa Bene Cicchetti, Poland, by Noke Architects
    Designed by Polish architecture and design studio Noke Architects, Va Bene Cicchetti is an Italian bar in Warsaw informed by Venice that serves drinks and small plates.
    The bar is accessed via an arched doorway that is lined with antique mirrors. Inside a monolithic, red travertine bar is surrounded by hues of red and gold in a nod to the colours of the Venetian flag. The floors of the bar and the bases of chairs were coloured in a sea-like shade of turquoise that aimed to recreate the look of the flooded streets of the Italian archipelago.
    Find out more about Va Bene Cicchetti ›
    Photo by Yevhenii AvramenkoTerra, Ukraine, by YOD Group
    Glass bricks, large columns, terracotta tiles and coppery hues define this restaurant interior in Vynnyky, Ukraine, designed by YOD Group. Named Terra, the restaurant borrows its colour and material palette from the surrounding rolling hills and lake.
    “We aimed to extract colours, textures and impressions from the landscape to translate them into the interior design language,” said the studio. “Like the eyedropper tool in Photoshop, but on a real-life scale, we designed the space to mirror its surroundings.”
    Find out more about Terra ›
    Photo by Yongjoon ChoiSik Mul Sung, South Korea, by Unseenbird
    Sik Mul Sung is a space-age-themed cafe in downtown Seoul, South Korea. Designed by South Korean studio Unseenbird, it incorporates sheets of stainless steel wrapped across the walls, countertops and fixtures.
    The metallic surfaces are contrasted against a red pebble floor and spacey decorative rocks, while a glass-fronted vitrine is a focal point at the cafe and is used to grow vegetables in a vertical farming system.
    Find out more about Sik Mul Sung ›

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    Large fireplaces bookend Evangeline rooftop bar at Ace Hotel Toronto

    The rooftop bar and lounge at the recently opened Ace Hotel Toronto, by local studio Shim-Sutcliffe Architects, continues the earthy tones and exposed concrete from the lobby.

    Named Evangeline, the 80-seat bar overlooks Toronto from the 14th floor of the new building by Shim-Sutcliffe Architects, with interiors by Atelier Ace – the hospitality group’s in-house design team.
    Custom ceramic tiles by David Umemoto flank one of two fireplaces in the Evangeline lounge”With energy swinging from sunset cooldowns to late night revelry, Evangeline celebrates creativity through a keen eye for curation — drinks, bites, sounds and sights,” said a statement from Ace Hotel.
    “Its name is an ode to the first feature film out of Canada and its atmosphere influenced by the creative spark of the silver screen.”
    The bar and lounge is located on the 14th floor of the Ace Hotel TorontoServing craft cocktails and small plates by chef Patrick Kriss, the bar comprises a cosy indoor space and an outdoor terrace, divided by a fully glazed wall.

    The plant-filled patio faces south and west, enjoying views of Downtown Toronto and capitalising on sunset vistas.
    The space features various seating areas, patterned rugs and plenty of plants”A lush display of plants moves from indoors to outdoors, where the furnishings adopt a more casual, contemporary tone,” said the Ace Hotel team.
    The indoor space features tall ceilings and is bookended by large fireplaces – one of which is flanked by sculptural ceramic tiles by Montreal-based artist David Umemoto.

    Ace Hotel Toronto by Shim-Sutcliffe Architects features a suspended lobby

    Continuing the earthy colour palette from the hotel’s lobby, various seating options in the bar feature sage green and pale terracotta cushions, and the tables are mostly wood.
    A row of thick, board-marked concrete columns along one side of the room creates smaller seating nooks in between and delineates the lounge from the bar service area.
    The interiors by Atelier Ace continue the earthy tones from the hotel’s lobbyVintage-style patterned rugs cover the tiled floor, while light fixtures were custom-designed for the space by Toronto studio MSDS.
    Evangeline opened to the public on 21 October 2022, following the hotel’s debut in July.
    The outdoor patio faces south and west to overlook Downtown TorontoThe programming team plans to host a roster of events hosted by DJs, record labels and party producers, as well as a rotating series of artwork by Canadian talent.
    This is the hotel group’s 10th property, joining locations including Sydney, Brooklyn, Kyoto and New Orleans.
    The photography is by William Jess Laird.

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    Venice floodwaters inform two-tone interior of Warsaw bar Va Bene Cicchetti

    Sea green floors and skirting tiles are contrasted against the all-red interior of this bar in Warsaw, Poland, which local studio Noke Architects has designed to recall the high waters of Venice.

    Billed as Poland’s first cicchetti bar – an Italian bar selling drinks alongside small plates of food – Va Bene Cicchetti is located in a huge Socialist Realist housing estate from the 1950s called the Marszałkowska Housing District.
    Va Bene Cicchetti is a bar in WarsawCustomers enter the bar via an arched doorway lined with antique mirrors. Inside, they are met by a huge red travertine counter with a large drinks cooler, which is hollowed out of the stone and filled with ice and bottles of prosecco.
    Most of the interior is rendered in warm hues of red and gold in a nod to the colours of the Venetian flag.
    But the floor, and everything up to about 20 centimetres in height, is finished in sea green to suggest the high waters of the Veneto region, locally known as acqua alta.

    Its interior was informed by Venice’s floodwatersSeveral times a year, when the tide in the Adriatic Sea rises, these floodwaters will cover streets and piazzas in Venice in a layer of water.
    To recreate this “flood effect” inside the interior of Va Bene Cicchetti, Noke Architects coloured the floors and skirting tiles, as well as the base of table legs, chairs and plinths in a watery shade of turquoise.
    Tables resemble Venice’s red-and-white striped mooring poles”We wanted the place to be unambiguously associated with Venice but we also wanted for this reference to be fresh and unique,” said Piotr Maciaszek, who co-founded Noke Architects alongside Aleksandra Hyz and Karol Pasternak.
    “We took inspiration from the colours of the Venetian flag, which dominate all finishings, and incorporated the acqua alta motif in the interior as an element of surprise.”
    Turquoise skirting tiles run along the perimeter of the roomThe scheme is completed with glass lamps that resemble rippling water and bespoke furniture pieces including tables that pay homage to the red-and-white striped mooring posts found in Venice’s canals.
    Taking over an entire wall of the bar is an intricate mosaic made from reclaimed materials including glass panes from the Murano glass factory in Venice and fragments of wine bottles from Va Bene Cicchetti’s sister restaurant Va Bene.

    Moroccan carpets line walls of Warsaw’s Aura cocktail bar

    The mural depicts the bar’s owners and their dog Koko enjoying wine and food at a table in Venice.
    “Veneto is where the famous Murano glass and antique mirrors are manufactured,” Maciaszek explained.
    “The region is famous for its ceramics and wine. We came up with the idea to use mini pieces of Venice as the building blocks of our artwork. Mosaic was the perfect solution for this.”
    The bar is centred on a red travertine counterThe bar’s basement level is completely saturated in the same greeny-blue hue as the floors upstairs to create the impression of being underwater.
    Bathrooms, meanwhile, are finished in black and white stripes and topped with a red ceiling in a reference to the uniforms worn by Venetian gondoliers.
    An intricate mosaic covers an entire wall of the barPolish illustrator and graphic designer Ola Niepsuj was responsible for creating the bar’s visual identity, which depicts the Lion of Saint Mark – a winged lion that represents the patron saint of Venice and is found on buildings across the city.
    At Va Bene Cicchetti, this motif can be found in the form of door handles and the neon light above the entrance.
    The bar’s basement level is covered in sea green tilesElsewhere in Poland, local practice Paradowski Studio recently channelled the glamour of Kraków’s interwar cafes and the clean functionalism of its mid-century modern cinemas for a hotel renovation.
    The Puro Stare Miasto hotel is located next to Kraków’s historic old town and spans 138 rooms alongside an extensive open-plan reception, lobby space and restaurant.
    The photography is by Piotr Maciaszek.

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    Cocktail bar “suspended between sea and sky” draws upon nearby Mediterranean

    Architect Gae Avitabile has designed the interior of Civico 29, a sea-informed cocktail bar in the coastal town of Sperlonga, Italy.

    Located halfway between Rome and Naples on Italy’s western coast, the bar features colours and materials informed by the nearby seafront, with blue motifs and wave-like forms dominating the space.
    Gae Avitabile designed Civico 29 to mimic the experience of being on a beachAvitabile transformed the oceanside building, which previously contained an ice cream parlour, into a bar that aims to recreate the sensory experience of being on a beach.
    “The space was used as a gelato ice cream parlour with simple, traditional interiors which were not evocative of the location,” Avitabile told Dezeen.
    “Not being able to work on spaces and volumes – both in physical terms due to the small size, and because of the limits imposed by the council – I changed my point of view and began to think in terms of a project which would find its own dimension in multi-sensoriality,” he continued.

    “For me, the sea is light and colour, sound, touch, taste and smell.”
    The space was transformed into blue-toned cocktail barThe project was heavily influenced by the local area and uses a minimal material palette.
    “The materials are unusual for the setting, and have been chosen to give life to my multi-sensory project,” Avitabile commented. “Despite this, the perception is that of strong links with the location.”
    An outdoor terrace has seating overlooking the seaVisitors enter through a wide opening that leads to the main space. The room contains a long bar with a wave-like form coated in a blue gradient that mirrors the view of the ocean outside.
    “The bar, its sinuous shape reminiscent of the movement of the waves, is an implicit reference to the sea and draws inspiration from the area’s great pieces of architecture,” said Avitabile.

    Red tones feature throughout Lofos cocktail bar in Greece

    A lamp by Munari inspired by fish traps is suspended over the counter, contained in a white metal mesh structure, while a layer of traditional European hollow bricks filled with white lime and covered with resin lines the floor.
    A white lamp and a blue mesh curtain feature in the spaceSurrounding the space is an aluminium mesh curtain created by Kriskadecor that lines two of the four walls, chosen by Avitabile due to its movement being reflective of coastal breezes.
    “[The curtain] moves with gusts of wind and creates an elegant sound reminiscent of a coastal breeze,” Avitabile commented.
    A small bathroom sits beside the main bar spaceTo the side of the main space is a small bathroom with wallpaper coated in exotic motifs. Large openings on the opposite side of the bar lead to an outdoor seating area overlooking the ocean.
    “I deliberately avoided indoor seating, partly due to the small area available, and partly because enjoying the panorama remains the linchpin of this project,” said Avitabile.
    Other cocktail bars featured on Dezeen include a Shanghai bar covered in over 1,000 insects by Atelier XY and a gender-neutral cocktail bar and salon in Kyiv designed by Balbek Bureau
    The photography is by Carlo Oriente.

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    Renesa uses contrasting terracotta and terrazzo materials to create all-day cafe in New Delhi

    New Delhi-based architecture and interior design studio Renesa juxtaposed terracotta and terrazzo materials to design a space that acts as a cafe by day and a bar by night.

    The eatery, which is called Rosie and Tillie, was named by its owners – chefs Anukriti Anand and Vicky Mandal – who wanted to create a hybrid open-plan brunch and cocktail bar.
    Curved booths run down the middle of Renesa’s cafe in Delhi”The cafe expatiates on the dichotomy of a woman who goes by the name Rosie in the morning and Tillie in the evening,” Renesa head architect Sanchit Arora told Dezeen.
    “While chef Anukriti Anand, an expert in bakery, wanted a space that could be called a daytime cafe with cakes and coffees and beverages, they also wanted something that could serve yet another mood; one of night, exclusivity and sombreness,” he added.
    The studio implemented a contrasting rust and white colour paletteNestled in a former Indian restaurant in a shopping mall in New Delhi’s Saket neighbourhood, the cafe features terracotta, warm white terrazzo and curvilinear architectural motifs.

    Customers enter Rosie and Tillie through an outdoor seating section that is decorated in the same materials and colour palette as the cafe’s interior.
    Once inside, guests are welcomed by a row of rust-coloured and creamy white booths upholstered with plush white seats, which run through the centre of the 1,700 square-foot space. These add texture and warmth as well as privacy for diners.
    Booths and walls are clad in the same tilesRenesa, which recently completed a brick-clad showroom interior in Delhi, made the sculptural “spine” that divides the space into different zones the focal point for the mixed-use site.
    “We took an axis as the starting point for our project,” said Arora. “A curvilinear spine divides the space not just spatially, creating efficient zones, but also metaphorically, animating the personalities of Rosie and Tillie.”
    The studio threaded white terrazzo throughoutEach booth has a circular table in its middle where customers can dine on menu items such as french toast, buffalo chicken burgers and American-style pancakes.
    During the evening, they can sip cocktails while sitting on high stools at the main bar counter towards the back of the room.

    Renesa creates green granite interior for restaurant in Punjab

    One half of the room is lined in pale flooring and has an earthy red paint applied overhead, while the other half of the room is decorated in the opposite colours.
    Red brick tiles along the walls envelop the space while industrial looking metal lights hang overhead along the length of the plan, uniting the two sides of the space.
    The space has a mixture of traditional table seats and bar counter options”The perimeter of the floor plan is dotted by dining nooks that make way for communal dining in intimate groups illuminated by bespoke luminaires that are artistic installations in their own right,” explained Arora.
    “The hybrid of experiences ranging from the daytime bistro-esque identity morphs effortlessly into the moody lounge by evening via the vocabulary of materiality and lighting that render the venue in a binate mien void of physical demarcations,” he added.
    Other recent cafes featured on Dezeen include a serene eatery in Melbourne called Au79 cafe by Australian studio Mim Design and the Connie-Connie cafe at the Copenhagen Contemporary art gallery which Danish studio Tableau and designer Ari Prasetya filled with wooden chairs by designers.
    Photography is by Niveditaa Gupta.

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    Hitzig Militello sets restaurant within historic Buenos Aires home

    Repurposed materials and decadent accents come together in this Buenos Aires restaurant and bar that fits within a historic house overhauled by local studio Hitzig Militello Architects.

    Named Moshu Treehouse, the restaurant was built within a two-storey home in the Palermo neighbourhood, near the architecture studio’s main office.
    Moshu features raw materials and playful accentsThe neighbourhood is one of the older areas of the city and has a wealth of existing structures such as this one.
    According to the architecture studio, traditionally, these Argentinian houses are built around a courtyard, which becomes the main gathering area for socialising.
    Hitzig Militello designed the restaurant in Buenos AiresHitzig Militello Architects wanted to replicate this experience by creating a new courtyard area at the entrance that preserves the original facade of the home.

    In addition to marking the arrival into the restaurant, this feature is intended to facilitate carry-out orders and outdoor dining.
    A local Moshu tree planted in the courtyard gave the project its name.
    It features both indoor and outdoor dining”Our first major design strategy was to create an access courtyard immediately adjacent to the facade as both a symbol and shock effect,” said Hitzig Militello Architects.
    This new access courtyard allows visitors to enter the restaurant in two different ways: into the primary courtyard or up a set up stairs to access the second floor.
    “This allowed for a new facade with a language of its own, the core idea behind it being the preservation of the old style of the main facade,” it added.
    The facade is made up of a grid of windows with wooden shuttersPart of the courtyards facade is made up of a grid of windows with wooden shutters, which also cover the entrance to the indoor aspect of the restaurant. These are operable and can be opened up to capture the breeze, or closed in bad weather.
    They are slightly angled and offset from one another, creating a dynamic and irregular composition.

    Hitzig Militello Arquitectos combines two homes in one building in Buenos Aires

    The restaurant itself is laid out on two levels, with a cocktail bar upstairs and a terrace at the back of the building. The interiors preserve many of the raw finishes from the existing home.
    “The interior architecture language is one of vernacular composition of the typical demolished industrial style,” they explained. “Surrounding them is a run-down, abandoned house where the dry vegetation has taken over,” they added.
    Accent walls made of different sizes of tubes that form an archwayHitzig Militello Architects also added some playful features to the interiors, such as accent walls made of different sizes of tubes that form an archway.
    The ground floor contains a bar, and a variety of dining rooms set up inside or within small courtyards exposed to the sky.
    Upstairs is a large, decadent barIn total, the restaurant offers 240 square metres of interior space and 90 square metres uncovered.
    Upstairs is a larger bar, which spills out onto a terrace overlooking the front of the building.
    It spills out onto a terraceAn exterior stair leads from this upper patio directly to the street-facing entrance. Depending on the restaurant’s hours of operation, the upper floor can be reserved privately for events.
    Hitzig Militello Architects was founded in 2006 and also has offices in Miami.
    Buenos Aires has seen a number of renovations and additions to its existing building stock. Other examples include a home from the 1930s that underwent a “subtle” renovation by Torrado Arquitectos, and a self-designed office by Studio Nu that is set within a former auto mechanic’s shop.
    The photography is by Federico Kulekdjian.
    Project credits:Concept design: Arch. Vanik Margossian, Arch. Dolores GayosoConstruction documents: Arch. Vanik MargossianManagement: Arch. Marcela Bernat, Arch. Vanik Margossian

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    Tutu lights populate Montreal's Cafe Constance by Atelier Zébulon Perron

    Pink pendant lights resembling dancers’ skirts hang from the ceiling of this cafe by Atelier Zébulon Perron at a Montreal ballet school.

    Cafe Constance is located in the downtown Wilder Building, home to Les Grands Ballets Canadiens and named in tribute one of the organisation’s former leaders, Constance Pathy.
    Cafe Constance was designed as a theatrical experience within the contemporary building’s lobbyThe 1,400-square-foot (130-square-metre) space occupies the contemporary building’s lobby. It is used both for social gatherings for the artists and employees, and as a reception venue during and after functions or performances.
    “Maintaining apropos ambiances through the space’s transitions from coffee shop by day, to more cocktail-oriented functions in the evening influenced Atelier Zébulon Perron’s design philosophy,” said the design studio in a statement.
    A canopy above the bar and pendant lights help to create a more intimate scale”But the main focus was on creating something truly warm and whimsical in the heart of a contemporary institutional building,” the team added.

    In contrast to the large expanses of glazing and concrete finishes of the building, Atelier Zébulon Perron opted for rich materials like walnut, velvet and brass. Wooden screens wrap the cafe, partially shielding it from view while creating intrigue for patrons and passersby.
    Wooden screens wrap the seating area to create intrigue”We adopted a theatrical approach in order to build a sort of spectacle that is really quite literal,” said studio founder Zébulon Perron.
    “The idea was to create something that seems completely out of place, and that captivates the imagination in a strange and wonderful way,” he said.
    Materials like walnut and brass were chosen to contrast the concrete interiorA canopy above the bar area helps to bring the tall ceilings down to a more human scale.
    Similarly, a series of pleated pendants are gracefully suspended from thin wires above the seating area, at a height that helps create a more intimate setting.

    Atelier Zébulon Perron designs “sensual” bar and restaurant at Montreal’s Four Seasons hotel

    These custom-designed lamps, each a slightly different shape, are made from the same blush-toned crinoline fabric as a dancer’s tutu.
    Floral-patterned wallpaper, upholstery and carpets, as well as golden lamps topped with tasseled shades, create the impression of a staged scene from another era.
    Details like wallpaper, upholstery and lighting add drama to the space”The tongue-in-cheek approach to Cafe Constance aimed at creating a fun and fantastical space within the more austere backdrop of the building’s contemporary architecture,” Perron said.
    “That play on contrasts extends to the design within the space as well, with hints of Victorian elements and boudoir intimacy animated by intricate colours, patterns and light fixtures.”
    Lamps were custom designed from crinoline fabric used to make tutusThe designer founded the eponymous interiors studio in 2008, and has also completed a restaurant at Montreal’s Four Seasons hotel.
    Other recently completed hospitality interiors in the city include the plant- and mirror-filled Tiramisu by Menard Dworkind, and La Firme’s bright and airy Melk Cafe.
    The photography is by Alex Lesage.

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