GRT Architects

Subterms

    Latest story

    138 Shares169 Views

    GRT Architects references “vacation Italian” at New York bar and restaurant

    by

    New York studio GRT Architects has designed a light and airy Italian restaurant and adjacent cocktail bar at the base of Thomas Heatherwick’s Lantern House in Manhattan.

    The new dining and drinking destinations face the corner of West 18th Street and 10th Avenue through the distinctive bay windows of the building, which straddles the popular High Line park in Chelsea.
    The bright and airy Cucina Alba was designed to transport diners to ItalyThe 3,000-square-foot (278 square metres), 90-cover Cucina Alba offers a full brunch and dinner menu, while Alba Accanto is half the size and serves cocktails and bites next door.
    Both are operated by Prince Street Hospitality, whose partner Cobi Levy collaborated with GRT Architects on the interiors of both spaces.
    Alternating yellow and white fabric panels are draped above the dining spaces”Cucina Alba and Alba Accanto are two distinct yet complementary spaces that instantly transport guests to Italy, capturing the polish of the north with the brightness of the south,” said the group.

    Cucina Alba is designed to embody a “vacation Italian” aesthetic, evoked by light terrazzo floors, tubular metal Knoll Cesca chairs, and pale oak millwork.
    Oak millwork, light-toned terrazzo flooring and tubular metal chairs all add to the ambienceAlternating yellow and white fabric panels were draped overhead, forming a parachute-esque ceiling that matches the striped awnings over the entrances.
    Thin metal chains hung from red railings act as space dividers, defining and partially enclosing a section of the dining area.
    Hints of coral red stand out against the pale colour paletteHigh-gloss, oxblood-coloured tables nestle into semicircular booths or line up along the bench that follows the windows.
    At the other end of the L-shaped space, the open-air kitchen is denoted by a colourful mural by artist Alex Proba that covers the end wall and part of the ceiling.
    A colourful mural by Alex Proba denotes the open kitchen areaIn the bay windows, an assortment of plants and random paraphernalia – from inflatables to plastic lemons and disco balls – are visible to passersby, while outdoor seating along 10th Avenue is offered under scallop-edged parasols that continue the white and yellow theme.
    Next door, Alba Accanto has a similar “Italian holiday bar” aesthetic, but with a slightly moodier ambience for evenings.

    GRT Architects uses “riot” of materials for Bad Roman restaurant in New York

    The bar counter is built from stacks of pale stone that form striations across the front, while the top and the bar back are made from continuous expanses of a single stone type.
    Arched niches behind the bar emanate a golden glow, and display glassware and liquor bottles alongside figurative sculptural vases that were custom-made in Italy.
    Next door, the Alba Accanto bar has stone detailsThe ceiling is covered in fabric that features thin ticking stripes, from which brass chandeliers with pale blue glass globes are suspended.
    At the back is a private dining room that can be booked for large parties of up to 45 guests, and the table configuration can be adapted depending on the event.
    The bar area features a striped fabric ceiling and a painting by Alex KatzBuilt-in bench seating wraps the perimeter, and patterned wallpaper and matching curtains are reflected in the glossy ceiling.
    In both spaces, works by renowned artists including Alex Katz and Ethan Cook were sourced with the help of art advisor Elizabeth Margulies, and hand-painted tableware from Puglia adds an authentic touch.
    Behind the bar is a private dining room that can accommodate up to 45 guests”The design of Alba Accanto is exuberant and maximalist in style, utilizing bright colors to reflect the vibrance of Italian coastal cities like Positano,” said Levy, “while the design of Cucina Alba is polished, contemporary, and warmly inviting with wood accents, embodying the soul of Milan.”
    “We wanted to capture the distinct atmosphere of each city, and with Accanto, we achieved that same sense of vitality but with a maximalist approach,” he added.
    Both Cucina Alba and Alba Accanto occupy the ground floor of Thomas Heatherwick’s Lantern House building in ChelseaGRT Architects has completed the interiors for two other Italian restaurants in New York City: the Michelin-starred Don Angie in the West Village, and the recently opened Bad Roman at Columbus Circle.
    Founded by Tal Schori and Rustam-Marc Mehta in 2014, the studio has amassed a portfolio that extends from Brooklyn townhouse renovations to ground-up builds in the Hudson Valley.
    The photography is by Peter Murdock.

    Read more: More

    More stories

    • 163 Shares169 Views

      in Rooms

      GRT Architects uses “riot” of materials for Bad Roman restaurant in New York

      by

      Brooklyn studio GRT Architects has designed an Italian restaurant in New York City where a visual cacophony of colour, pattern and materials combine for a maximalist aesthetic.

      Bad Roman is the latest venture from the hospitality group Quality Branded, for which GRT Architects previously completed the interiors for Michelin-starred Don Angie.
      Bad Roman guests are greeted by a sculpture of a boar raised on a patterned podiumServing a “contemporary and whimsical” take on Italian cuisine, Bad Roman is located on the third level of a shopping centre in the Time Warner Center on Columbus Circle, at the southwest corner of Central Park.
      “Where The Shops at Columbus Circle are politely elegant, Bad Roman is a riot of rich and varied materials, textures, found objects, shapes and colour,” said GRT Architects.
      The organically shaped bar is clad in stripes of marble and glassThe 6,500-square-foot (604-square-metre) space has an open layout so that diners can enjoy the view of the park through the glass facade.

      To set the tone, guests are greeted by a sculpture of a boar, which is raised on a patterned podium and wears an illuminated collar.
      Booths lined up along the window feature stepped orange backsA curved bar sits in the middle of the restaurant. A light box above is clad in stripes of marble, mirror and cast glass, and emits a soft glow onto the marble bar counter below.
      Throughout the restaurant, a variety of booth seating arrangements are designed to accommodate parties of all sizes.
      Blown-glass lighting, 19th-century sculptures and various decor elements are combined in the colourful spaceThe booths have fabric-wrapped cushioned backs with multiple panels at stepped heights, which form waves when placed side-by-side around the tables.
      “We made these islands into worlds unto themselves, incorporating textured plaster cladding, assemblages of found objects and segmented upholstery in a family of orange fabrics,” said the studio.
      Private dining rooms at the end of the restaurant each have a distinct design languageAt one end of the 160-foot-long (49-metre) space are a pair of private dining rooms, while a fully glazed area is located at the other – each with a distinct design language.
      Greenery spills from planters suspended from the coffered ceilings, and several different types of lighting help to set the mood.

      Don Angie restaurant interior takes influences from Italy and New Jersey

      The bright dining room is contrasted by dark and moody bathrooms, where a two-tiered, classical-style garden fountain sits on a mosaic basin at their entrance.
      “Minimal it is not, but the design of Bad Roman is unified by a high level of handcraft, and a say-yes-to-all-beautiful-materials attitude,” GRT Architects said.
      A classical-style fountain is positioned at the entrance to the bathrooms”Locally blown-glass light fixtures, trompe l’oeil mosaics, 19th-century fragments and intricate tilework all collude to create an exuberant home for Bad Roman’s fresh take on modern Italian.”
      The studio was founded by Tal Schori and Rustam-Marc Mehta in 2014, and their team has since completed a variety of projects across the US.
      The dark and moody bathrooms contrast the bright and colourful dining roomOther restaurants in their portfolio include Cucina Alba in New York and Curtis Stone’s Georgie in Dallas.
      In the residential sector, GRT Architects recently completed the renovation of an East Village apartment and a house perched above the marshes in Connecticut.
      The photography is by Christian Harder.

      Read more: More

    • 150 Shares159 Views

      in Rooms

      GRT Architects combines oak and mosaic tiles for East Village Apartment renovation

      by

      New York-based GRT Architects has rearranged the layout of an apartment in the East Village and added warm materials during its renovation.

      The studio undertook the project in Onyx Court, a six-storey corner Beaux-Arts structure on Second Avenue built in 1902 by Harde & Short.
      The East Village Apartment renovation involved relocating the kitchen to a brighter spaceGoals for the renovation included reorganising rooms to improve sightlines through the apartment and optimising the natural light available in each room.
      “Our renovation completely rethought the apartment’s layout while preserving its turn-of-the-century disposition,” said the GRT Architects team. “The space is neither more open nor closed than when we found it.”
      The kitchen, living and dining areas are all connected but intended to be read as separate roomsThe first move was to straighten a corridor from the entrance, to provide a view of an east-facing window from the front door.

      To enable this, a shallow-arched opening was created in a load-bearing brick wall – the only structural change made during the overhaul.
      A full storage wall in the living room includes a panel that hides the TV”The journey down this corridor celebrates the building’s irregularity with asymmetrical niches and rounded openings in thick plaster walls,” GRT Architects said.
      This journey ends at the semi-open kitchen, which was relocated from diagonally across the apartment, to an area with better light and improved integration into the rest of the home.
      A textured sliding door reveals a small office behindAn island clad in oxblood-coloured tiles sits at the centre, surrounded by white oak cabinetry with oversized handles and a satin white countertop.
      Chequerboard two-inch mosaic tiling across the kitchen floor ends below a storage unit suspended from brass bars, clearly defining this space from the adjacent dining room.
      The primary bedroom now sits where the kitchen once wasA minimal brass pendant hangs above the walnut dining table, while the living room is found through a cased opening and also demarcated by a strip of herringbone parquet flooring.
      Largely decorated in a cooler grey hue compared to the warmer tones elsewhere, the living room features accents like a yellow armchair that matches the upholstery of the dining chairs, and a storage wall backed with sienna-coloured panels.
      Custom built-in closets were added to the bedroom”We organised this space around a full wall of built-in shelves which includes a sliding panel that conceals a television,” said GRT Architects.
      “A series of complementary colours emphasise the relief of this composition while oak pulls tie it back to the kitchen.”
      The second bedroom acts as both an office and a sleeping area thanks to a retractable murphy bedTucked behind a sliding textured glass door, a small office continues the same sienna shade across all four walls.
      The primary bedroom is located in place of the old kitchen and includes custom built-in closets – one occupying the shaft of a defunct dumbwaiter.

      GRT Architects blends old and new at renovated Brooklyn townhouse

      An adjacent bathroom combines a variety of hard and soft materials, ranging from flecked terrazzo and green mosaic tiles to oak cabinet doors that visually tie back to the kitchen.
      In the second bedroom, a murphy bed enables the space to be used as another office when needed.
      Materials in the bathroom echo those in the kitchenA powder room was also slotted into the floor plan as part of the reorganisation.
      “We found space for this small room by greatly reducing circulation space without compromising privacy,” the team said.
      The apartment is now organised along a straight corridorGRT Architects, founded by Tal Schori and Rustam-Marc Mehta in 2014, has worked on a variety of projects in New York City – from a Brooklyn townhouse overhaul to a cosy bakery.
      More recently, the firm has expanded further afield, completing a cedar bungalow above marshland on the Connecticut shoreline and a black house with huge triangular windows in Dutchess County.
      The photography is by Nicole Franzen.
      Project credits:
      Design architect and architect of record: GRT Architects: Rustam Mehta, Tal Schori, Pablo Taberna, Chelsea StittMEP engineer: ANZStructural engineer: Old Structures

      Read more: More