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Mexico City lighting design studio Davidpompa has collaborated with restaurant Contramar to create an exhibit for the city’s art week that explores the intersection of traditional Mexican weaving and seafood preparation. More
Canadian studio Amanda Hamilton Interior Design has used bold colour-blocking and neon lighting to give this Calgary chicken shop a “1990s meets Memphis” feel.
Strip Joint Chicken in the city’s East Village neighbourhood is a fast-casual restaurant that serves “chicken fingers with a twist”.
A dark entrance vestibule sets the tone for Strip Joint Chicken’s dining space beyondThe brand is fun, playful and cheeky, so the interiors of its 2,200-square-foot (204-square-metre) space needed to reflect this.
Working with a return client, Amanda Hamilton Interior Design leant fully into the “offbeat” concept, creating an elevated interpretation of a seedy bar or nightclub that founder Amanda Hamilton described as “1990s meets Memphis”.
A trio of colourful stripes is used to guide customers to the ordering area, and also spells out the brand’s name on the wall”At times subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) design elements take a nod (or a big ol’ bow) playing to the restaurant’s name,” said the designer. “In a market saturated with options for fast casual, standing out was key.”
The main entrance vestibule is painted midnight blue and illuminated by vertical bands of neon lighting that connect wall-to-wall across the ceiling. This immersive passageway sets the tone for the main dining area, which is similarly lit with neon.
Tangles of fluorescent-blue neon tubes are suspended above the service counterTangled fluorescent-blue tubes are positioned above the bar and service counter, while pink and yellow glow from LED strips within large colour-blocked arches that accommodate built-in seating for a row of dining tables.
“Coloured lighting is used extensively to feature architectural details, enhance volumetric space, ground the bar and highlight seating areas,” Hamilton said.
LED strips illuminate colour-blocked arched niches, which accommodate bench seatingPart of a larger retail space that was divided into four units, the chicken shop is accessible from both sides of the building.
Therefore, close attention was paid to the flow of people through the space, and wayfinding tools were implemented to assist both dine-in and take-out customers.
The arched niches provide space for dine-in guests to enjoy their chicken out the way of take-out customersA trio of thin, coloured stripes are inlaid across floors to guide hungry patrons to the ordering area.
The same triple-line motif spells out the brand’s name in large letters across a wall, above a pink scallop-topped bench accompanied by small tables and terrazzo stools.
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Custom-designed feathery wallpaper adorns the back of the central arch and inside the “tender neutral” bathrooms, which are tucked behind bright pink doors.
For guests wishing to stay longer, a private dining area named the Hens Den is obscured from view by gauzy drapery.
Custom feathery wallpaper adorns the bathroom interiorsThis monochromatic room features a brass pole in the centre of its dining table, around which a lazy susan for sharing food rotates.
“As an extension of the space, the predominately custom furniture is equal parts playful and sculptural, creating a conversation-worthy addition to the space,” Hamilton said.
Located behind bright pink doors, the bathrooms are designated as “tender neutral”The designer founded her eponymous studio in Calgary, where she’s based, and also operates a second location out of Vancouver.
A trend for bright psychedelia in hospitality and entertainment spaces has been gaining pace recently, with other examples found in Seattle’s Supernova nightclub and the Resonant Head music venue in Oklahoma City.
The photography is by Joel Klassen.
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Spanish design agency Masquespacio has created the interiors of Italian fast food chain Bun’s Turin branch that combines blocks of pink and green with a blue seating area designed to look like a swimming pool.
Bun Turin is a burger joint that takes its bold identity from the first Bun restaurant in Milan, which was also designed by Masquespacio.
“This restaurant’s target customer is the urban lifestyle of people born late in the Millennium and the new Generation Z,” Masquespacio co-founder Christophe Penasse told Dezeen.
The burger bar is in Turin
Characterised by three distinct colourful areas, the burger joint uses pink, blue and green in order to playfully carve out different spaces in the restaurant.
The sections are designed so that the restaurant’s three large windows present each colour as a separate blocked out space from the outside.
Green and pink sections feature in the restaurantUpon entering Bun Turin, visitors are greeted with an ordering bar and drinks and ice cream fridge coloured in a dusty sage shade of the restaurant’s trademark green.
Lit-up digital menu boards with gold accents display the restaurant’s food options, while a version of the same neon burger logo found in Bun’s Milan branch glows from a nearby pillar.
A neon burger sign glows from a pillarPink and blue are used for two different seating areas both complete with built-in furniture.
In the pink area, a central table coloured partly in green straddles both the pink and green sections of the restaurant.
Sugary-pink terrazzo steps that double as a planter lead visitors to seats tucked into arched booths in the pink seating area, which also houses the burger joint’s toilets.
The pink seating area has terrazzo stepsBun Turin’s all-blue seating area is built from pale tiles that are designed to look like a swimming pool.
The area features mock pool ladders which aim to give visitors the impression of floating in water while they eat.
Masquespacio uses blocks of colour to break up interior of Milan burger joint
“Once we defined Bun’s identity we developed the project in 3D,” said Penasse.
“At the end of the process, we do a lot of trials to reach the correct combination of colours and materials,” continued the designer.
“In this case, we had several options for colour combinations, all focussed on a younger audience.”
The blue seating area resembles a swimming poolApart from tiles by Complementto, all of the furniture in Bun Turin was designed by Masquespacio.
“It is important for clients that Bun spaces can be recognised wherever they are located,” explained Penasse.
“For this reason, the design will evolve and be slightly different in each space, but maintain a clear identity.”
Each section is revealed to the street by a large windowMasquespacio is a Valencia-based design agency founded in 2010 by Penasse and Ana Milena Hernández Palacios, known for its use of bright colour.
Other recent projects by the studio include colour-blocked student housing in Bilbao, and a stucco and terracotta restaurant in the Spanish town of Aragon constructed from twisting shapes informed by the nearby Pyrenees mountains.
Photography is by Gregory Abbate.
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Valencian creative studio Masquespacio has used a lilac and avocado-green colour scheme to create a youthful yet “sophisticated” interior for the Milan outpost of Italian fast food chain Bun. More
