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Chunky wooden partitions and distinctive lighting fixtures feature in a Japanese restaurant in Denver designed by Roth Sheppard Architects to offer “flashes of unanticipated excitement”. More
Indian office MAIA Design Studio has designed a Pan-Asian restaurant in Bangalore, which brings local crafts together with a Tokyo-inspired palette of colours and patterns.Lucky Chan is a casual restaurant serving sushi and dim-sum, which takes over the grand floor of a two-storey house.
Lucky Chan takes over the ground floor of a two-storey house
Because it’s a residential building, the space is divided up into a series of rooms. MAIA Design Studio founder Shruti Jaipuria saw this as an opportunity to explore a variety of different concepts.
Her interior design scheme gives each room its own character, but they all share an eclectic mix of colour, pattern and material.
Mosaic tiles create stripy walls in the open-air section
Large surfaces of grey Sadharalli granite feature alongside ceramic tiles that combine candy shades of red, yellow, pink and green.
“We were inspired by the hip Harajaku style of Tokyo while developing the colour palette,” said Jaipuria, “but the material palette is more local”.
“As an office, we aspire to use local material and craft in contemporary and unexpected contexts,” she told Dezeen.
The main dining room combines granite walls with a ceiling installation
Lucky Chan can be divided up into five different zones: the main dining room, the open-air section, the passageway, the sushi bar and the private dining room.
The main dining room is perhaps the most simple of the spaces, although it features a very unique detail – hanging from the ceiling is an installation of 250 turned-wood sculptures, created in collaboration with local artisans.
These 250 turned-wood sculptures were made by local artisans
These curvaceous wooden objects celebrate the tradition of hand-lathe woodwork in the nearby township of Channapatna.
Each piece is coloured with natural lacquers, made using substances that include turmeric, walnut bark and manjista root.
A passageway section features a neon sign that reads #heretogetlucky
Mirrors lining the surrounding ceiling beams create the impression that the installation goes on forever.
“The visual effect makes the large 900-millimetre beams disappear, thus opening up the otherwise small space and making it lighter,” said Jaipuria.
The sushi bar is made from birch plywood and covered in green tiles
Wooden chairs provide seating in both this space and the adjoining open-air section. These chairs feature seats hand-woven with coir, a coconut fibre, making use of another local craft technique.
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Mosaic tiles create a pattern of stripes on the end walls. The same tiles feature in the sushi bar, where they create a grid effect. They also form a chequerboard pattern on the table in the private dining room.
“Parallel lines and cross-grids started to play an important role while we were designing the space,” said Jaipuria.
The private dining room has panelled walls and a chequerboard-patterned table
Birch plywood brings a more lightweight feel to these rooms, providing custom furniture and also panelling on the walls.
These wooden elements include a sushi bar with an integrated conveyor belt, which Jaipuria believes is the first of its kind in India.
Other details include silk lamps that were handmade in Pondicherry, an array of plants in colourful pots, and a neon sign that reads #heretogetlucky.
Norm Architects also looked to Japanese design for its Sticks n Sushi restaurant in Copenhagen, while Linehouse referenced a retro Chinese canteen for its John Anthony dim sum restaurant in Hong Kong.
Photography is by Gokul Rao Kadam.
Project credits
Design studio: MAIA Design StudioDesign team: Shruti Jaipuria, Roshni Ramnane, Rahul ChughChannapatna execution: Atul Johri, Mubarak
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Studio Tamat hoped to create the feeling of a casual local bar with its design for Tre De Tutto, a restaurant in the south of Rome.Although the restaurant only recently opened, its interior is designed to feel lived in, with its simple tiled walls, humble furniture and peeling plaster.
These are contrasted by bold contemporary details that include geometric lighting fixtures, a neon sign and a yellow suspended staircase.
Details include arched windows, vintage metal chairs and geometric lighting
Tre De Tutto is located in Garbatella, a neighbourhood with a distinctly 1920s character. The space was previously a bakery, but had been abandoned for some years.
Studio Tamat’s design follows the concept proposed by restaurant owners, to create a space that takes inspiration from the local neighbourhood traditions and culture.
Blue majolica tiles are contrasted by coral-coloured mortar
“Owners Mirko Tommasi and Daniele Notte proposed revisited classics of Roman cuisine, taking inspiration from one of the most authentic neighbourhoods in Rome,” explained studio co-founder Matteo Soddu.
“In the same way, our goal from the beginning was not to distort the pre-existing space, but to enhance it and at the same time, bond with its clientele,” he said.
The neon sign offers the same message, reading “Quanto é Bella Garbatella”, which means “How beautiful Garbatella is”.
A marbled bar counter is made from Liquid Cosmo, a surface by Diesel and IrisCeramica
The restaurant is divided up into various rooms, with some at ground level and others set half a storey below.
The triangular upper level consists of three rooms that are usually reserved for breakfast and aperitifs, including a bar and a lounge area. The lower level contains two dining rooms, along with the kitchen and storage areas.
A coral-coloured “staircase tunnel” leads downstairs
Both levels have a slightly different design character, with a colour palette designed in collaboration with consultant Sabina Guidotti.
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Upstairs rooms have a bold colour palette, with blue majolica tiles set against contrasting mortar, plus a marbled bar counter in vivid shades of orange and purple, and three grand arched windows.
Dining rooms feature Grid, a graphic wallpaper by Texturae
A coral-coloured “staircase tunnel” leads downstairs, where rooms feature pale blue walls and wallpaper with cartoon-style graphics.
The yellow staircase features on this level, connecting one of the dining rooms with the street.
A suspended yellow staircase provides access to the street
Humble finishes and timeless elements feature throughout, including a resin-topped concrete floor, vintage metal chairs, leather-like upholstered benches and large pot plants.
“We left the rough walls, with the original layers of plaster, to dialogue with the contemporary design of the architectural elements that characterise the space, from the clean-cut counter that dominates the bar, to the exquisitely pop staircase of the restaurant,” said Soddu.
Tre De Tutto is located in Garbatella, in the south of Rome
Tre De Tutto’s menu matches its design, with a selection of drinks inspired by local history and “unpretentious” dishes that include pasta, panini and antipasti.
Photography is by Seven H Zhang.
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Architecture firm Snøhetta has worked with Bronx-based cooking collective Ghetto Gastro to create a jet-black eatery in Tokyo that will house immersive dining experiences.Set above a convenience store in the city’s Harajuku neighbourhood, Burnside is a casual restaurant by day and a bar and lounge by night.
Top image: floral sculptures by Makoto Azuma hang in the dining area. Above: the room is oriented around a central kitchen
The space was designed with flexibility in mind, as it will host a rotating roster of chefs and be used for a wide variety of pop-ups and events. It comprises a 30-person dining room with an open kitchen, all decorated using a dark material palette with amber-coloured accents.
The eatery, which marks Snøhetta’s first project opening in Tokyo, was designed for art and design collective En One Tokyo, with help from local construction partner Kooo Architects and Ghetto Gastro – an ensemble of chefs that specialises in immersive dining experiences.
The kitchen is open to the eyes of the public
“Using food to empower communities, Ghetto Gastro celebrates the Bronx as an inspiration and catalyst of global culture,” explained the practice. “Burnside builds upon this creative energy where the Bronx and Tokyo meet.”
Black was chosen as the predominant colour, referencing the dark atmosphere of Tokyo’s izakaya bars and the characteristic finish of Shou Sugi Ban charred wood. At the same time, it represents Ghetto Gastro’s culinary style, which it describes as “Black Power Kitchen.”
Steps lead up to the kitchen as if it were a stage
Together, the team wanted to build a dining experience that combines the intimacy of a bar with the easy informality of convenience stores, whether New York’s bodegas or Japanese conbinis.
Sound designer Devon Turnbull, who goes by Ojas, designed a bespoke sound system for the space while local flower artist Makoto Azuma created a series of floral sculptures that are displayed behind glass in the dining area.
Guests arrive at the eatery via a staircase that takes them from the street to the second floor. Once inside, the eye is drawn towards the open kitchen by a curved amber-coloured light strip that runs along the ceiling.
A long, black sharing table anchors the space
The space is divided by two intersecting arches, delineating the dining area and kitchen while still allowing views across both spaces.
A set of steps lead up into the open kitchen as if it were a stage, framed by curved walls that suggest the proscenium arch of a theatre. A central table in the kitchen is the focal point of the entire room, transforming the food preparation into a performance.
The walls next to the kitchen are curved to suggest a proscenium arch
A flexible kitchen layout was designed to adapt to the needs of a rotating roster of chefs. It can also be used as a space to dine and eat, or closed off to become a temporary gallery with the help of a curved, sliding partition hidden within the proscenium arch.
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“The transition between day and night, cafe and lounge, is a driving theme for the interior design,” explained Snøhetta. “A dark material palette features amber-coloured accents that reflect the changing light throughout the day while highlighting more ornate design elements such as the floral sculptures designed by Makoto Azuma.”
Custom-designed, family-style tables maximise the limited floor space and can be joined together or folded away to allow for a variety of layouts including a dance floor for late-night events.
A curved, sliding partition can be used to divide the space
Other dark restaurant interiors include central London’s Lucky Cat restaurant, where design studio AfroditiKrassa hoped to create a space that looks better in person than in pictures, and Shenzhen’s Voisin Organique restaurant, which Various Associates designed to resemble a gloomy valley.
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Hong Kong architecture studio Cheng Chung Design has created a restaurant and exhibition space within the cavernous interiors of a brick art installation in Mile City, China.The restaurant, named 50% Cloud Artists Lounge, occupies one of several distinctive structures in Dongfengyun Town that evoke a giant cluster of termite mounds.
Cheng Chung Design’s (CCD) interior is deliberately pared-back to retain focus on this unusual building, while also forming a backdrop to the artwork that is exhibited throughout it.
Top image: the restaurant occupies a cavernous brick building. Above: it resembles a giant cluster of termite mounds
“It was to be not only a restaurant but also an art space with an exhibition area,” said CCD’s founder, Joe Cheng.
“It aims to serve as an exhibition hall for various cultures and arts, providing a space for the public to get close to and enjoy art,” he told Dezeen. “You can see original art throughout the entire space.”
The entrance is marked by a curving steel doorway
The brick structure within which the restaurant is located was created by local artist Luo Xu and made without any steel reinforcements or nails.
The interiors of the other buildings in the cluster, also designed by CCD, have been transformed into a multi-functional hall, an art gallery and a hotel.
Steel panels guide visitors inside
CCD marked the entrance to the restaurant by a trail of curving steps that lead to an arched door and a series of curving steel panels.
This is modelled on the nearby Honghe Hani Rice Terraces – a system of historic terraces used to grow rice – and designed to add an “artistic touch” that is complementary to the colours and sinuous form of the building.
The restaurant layout responds to overhead skylights
Inside, the layout of the restaurant’s bar, chairs and tables responds to the curves of the structure and the positions of round openings carved into its roof.
As the walls of the building could not be decorated, this is intended to draw visitors’ attention to the light that filters in through the skylights and onto the bricks and creates patterns throughout the course of the day.
Patterns of light across the brick walls are the focal point
“Light is an essential element in the space,” said CCD. “Guests can experience the change of light in every minute.”
“All design elements are arranged based on light and under skylights. Natural light tells the passage of time throughout the day, and creates diversified spatial experiences,” the studio added.
Woven lampshades help softly filter light
Furniture is kept simple throughout, with cool colours and curved bodies that complement the form of the building.
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These are teamed with large woven lampshades that softly light the room, alongside art-deco style partitions that were used to loosely divide the space.
Furniture is kept simple throughout
The artwork throughout the restaurant ranges from bespoke furniture to larger sculptures designed by CCD and produced by an artist called Qi Songtao.
This includes an abstract, cloud-like piece and a metallic, woven artwork that mimics a human head.
A cloud-like sculpture is among the featured artwork
Elsewhere in China, Studio Zhu-Pei also created a series of sweeping, red-brick structures to house the Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Museum.
Located in the city of Jingdezhen, the museum’s cavernous buildings are all unique in size and are designed to recall the forms of traditional brick kilns.
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Design office Roar Studio combined industrial materials such as concrete and stainless steel with decorative terrazzo and broken ceramic tiles for Drop Coffee, a cafe in Dubai’s Dar Al Wasl Mall.The Dubai-based studio was asked to design an interior that would suit the flow of visitors to the cafe, who enter the space from two different entrances – one connected to the outdoors and one to the mall.
The bar area is framed by a wooden structure
It chose to keep the design simple by focusing on the materials used and framed the bar area of the cafe in pale wood and LED lights to create an eye-catching centrepiece.
“This is the second outlet for this homegrown Emirati brand,” Roar Studio founder Pallavi Dean told Dezeen.
“Their main drive was to achieve a minimal space where the coffee bar is a central feature and creates a theatrical moment – the making of the coffee is at the front and centre stage.”
A broken-tile mosaic decorates the main wall
The ceiling of the cafe is concrete and the studio also painted the walls with a concrete paint finish, which is complemented by a terrazzo-effect tiled stone floor in grey and white hues.
Its colours and shapes are picked up on the main wall, which was decorated with a mosaic of broken ceramic tiles that form an abstract pattern similar to the floor.
“We sourced basic white tiles from Rakceramics – a local manufacturer – which were then broken on-site to compose a patterned wall,” Dean explained.
“We aren’t trying to reinvent the wheel by using broken tiles – our idea was to form a counterpoint to the terrazzo effect porcelain flooring as though the chips of the broken tiles were used in the flooring.”
Stainless steel was used for the countertops
A large counter in pale wood is connected to the ceiling by beams in the same material, framing the bar area of the store. The counter is covered in stainless steel, which was chosen for both practical and aesthetic reasons.
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“The coffee bar has a stainless steel countertop which is extremely sturdy and hygienic but also allows the light to bounce through the space because of its reflectivity,” Dean said.
Orange clamp-style tables for a quick coffee break
Around the base of the bar, lighted skirting made out of glass blocks give the impression that it is floating above the ground. By the side of the bar, the enclosed kitchen area features a wall made from matching glass blocks, enabling visitors to see the silhouettes of Drop Coffee’s staff while they work.
The studio also chose to work with certain materials to help create a less noisy atmosphere for the visitors.
“The ceiling is acoustic foam sprayed, an effect that adds to the industrial aesthetic and helps muffle the noise in the open-plan space – not to mention the noise generated by the coffee machines,” Dean explained.
Grey hues and pale wood decorate the space
Drop Coffee already has one cafe in Dubai and the plan is for each of the branches to be associated with a different colour, with burnt orange used for Roar Studios’ design.
The colour has been dotted throughout the space and was used for seating as well as on clamp-style tables set along one wall for customers who want to have a quick coffee standing up.
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Roar Studio was founded in 2013 as Pallavi Dean Interiors by Dean, who was a Dezeen Awards 2020 judge, and rebranded as Roar Studio in 2018. It has previously designed a high-tech learning space for children in Dubai and issued a white paper about the ways in which Covid-19 will impact the design of schools and colleges.
Photography is by Oculis Project.
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Canadian design duo Julia Jamrozik and Coryn Kempster have created a playful all-blue cafe in a century-old house in Buffalo, New York, with an optical illusion staircase.Named Tipico Coffee, the cafe’s identity was formed with the intention of designing a space that encourages social interactions and supports local craftsmanship.
The cafe’s main bar is grafted from reclaimed furniture
Reclaimed furniture and lighting made from construction-site string lights feature alongside an oversized staircase to nowhere which forms amphitheatre-style seating.
The cafe’s main bar is made from ten reclaimed wooden tables sourced from classified advertisements website Craigslist.
The main bar encourages social interactions
The tables are grafted together and painted in sky-blue, forming a unified bar which runs along one wall of the cafe.
“The process of designing the cafe really started with the idea of the social infrastructure of the grafted bar,” Jamrozik and Kempster told Dezeen.
Drinks on ice are displayed between the bar’s table-tops
The open bar has clusters of swivelling stools arranged around blue table-tops that jut out of the bar’s customer side, allowing easy socialising between customers and staff.
“The different shapes of the tables come together to create opportunities for conversations,” continued the designers.
“This is augmented with the use of swivelling bar stools that allow patrons the ability to turn their bodies to orient themselves to a new connection.”
Swivelling stools encourage random encounters between customers and staff
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Groups of circular olive-green garden tables and chairs, as well as built-in blue benches, make up two intimate seating areas behind each side of the bar, which are separated by a wall.
The tables and chairs used are purposefully outdoor furniture. This means that the seating can be moved onto an exterior patio in the summer months.
Tipico’s atmosphere is a mix of indoors and outdoors
Various scattered potted plants blend green and blue furniture together and continue the theme of bringing the outdoors inside.
Jamrozik and Kempster explained their intentions for using sky-blue as the cafe’s dominant colour.
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“We wanted to use a vibrant colour to visually tie together the bar and benches to create continuity in the space and give visual emphasis to the bar as the main design gesture.”
“We chose blue to both complement the olive green furniture and plants, but also to create moments of contrast with the bespoke yellow lights,” they continued.
Potted plants are scattered around the space
The bespoke lights designed for the cafe are composed of construction-site string lights, wound around sections of aluminium stock tubes. They hang above the bar and the seating areas.
“We wanted to transform the string lights, while still making it clear what the source product was,” explained the designers.
Lighting made from construction-site string lights
Metal pegboard is another off-the-shelf material used in the space, making up a menu board behind the bar, a merchandise display board and a community message board.
The bottom of the main bar and built-in-benches was also lined with wooden pegboard in order to “give them both a visual texture, taking advantage of the acoustic properties of the perforations,” said Jamrozik and Kempster
A merchandise display board made from metal pegboard
A sense of the building’s historic charm remains in the existing fireplace that is preserved, which is painted in a strip of the same sky-blue paint as the main bar.
An over-scaled stairwell acts as an additional, cosy seating area fit for a couple of customers at a time.
The building’s original fireplace and its playful stairwell
Sealed off by a mirror and leading to nowhere, the stairwell is intended as an “Alice in Wonderland moment,” enhancing the cafe’s playfulness.
“The stairway’s oversized steps effectively shrink the visitor and act as seats while the mirrored ceiling gives the impression that the space continues up,” explained Jamrozik and Kempster.
“We imagine people will be drawn to the curious space and hope that they enjoy the tongue-in-cheek reference that plays on the domestic history of the original building,” continued the designers.
Sealed off by a mirror, the stairwell is an optical illusion
Jamrozik and Kempster note the importance of playful design in their work, which they believe connects people in public spaces.
“We use the language of play to create social infrastructures: physical prompts which encourage contact between strangers.”
“We believe that questioning the way people use and occupy space and their relationship to one another through playful encounters has enormous potential to speak across generations and cultural differences,” they continued.
The importance of play is an influence in Jamrozik and Kempster’s design work
Designers everywhere are acknowledging the importance of designing public spaces to maximise social interactions. In Montreal, Ménard Dworkind has created a cafe with a central standing bar, while Central Saint Martins graduates have created blocky outdoor furniture for a public square in Croydon, London.
Julia Jamrozik and Coryn Kempster have collaborated on design projects since 2003. Their varied work spans temporary installations and permanent interior and architectural commissions.
Photography is by Sara Schmidle.
Project credits:
Architecture team: Abstract Architecture PC
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The layout of this craft bakery in Berlin, designed by Danish architects Mathias Mentze and Alexander Vedel Ottenstein, revolves around an open kitchen that showcases the beauty of the bread-making process.Located in the courtyard of a restored brick factory in the city’s Scheunenviertel quarter, Sofi is a craft bakery that makes bread and cakes using grains sourced from small, organic farmers in Northern Europe.
Above: Sofi is housed in a former brick factory. Top image: A long, communal table offers space to eat
The project is a collaboration between Danish chef and restaurateur Frederik Bille Brahe and Design Hotels founder Claus Sendlinger.
As well as making baked goods using organic ingredients and low-intervention techniques, the owners’ ambition is for Sofi to serve as a community hub and to supply fresh bread to a selection of local restaurants.
A 3.5-metre-tall bread shelf separates the bakery from the guest area
Its interior was designed by Mentze and Vedel Ottenstein in collaboration with Augsburg-based interior design studio Dreimeta.
“We were introduced to the project last summer when Frederik Bille Brahe approached us about a new bakery he was working on in Berlin,” Vedel Ottenstein told Dezeen.
“Like Frederik, we are based in Copenhagen and have frequented his existing cafes and restaurants. So he brought us on to ensure that there would be a distinct Copenhagen feel to his first endeavour outside of Denmark.”
A corner bench is made from solid elm
“When we first visited the site in July 2020, the former tenant — which was a famous bagel shop — had just vacated the space. From the beginning, it was quite easy to imagine that this could be an amazing project, as the space itself has a lot of nice qualities,” he recalled.
“The double-height ceiling as well as the connection to the inner courtyard bring both light and a certain curiosity to the location. The space needed a lot of work but we felt the assignment was more to bring forth existing qualities instead of inventing new ones.”
All furniture was custom-made for the interior
The new floor plan revolves around an open-plan kitchen that sits at the centre of the space. Conceived as a “production floor”, this allows guests to watch Sofi’s small, international team of young bakers rolling out dough and working the ovens.
“Making bread is a highly technical skillset with all these different steps and we wanted this process to be the generator of the plan layout,” said Vedel Ottenstein.
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“A bakery has a very clear narrative in which the oven is the heart of the place and so we wanted to place the oven in the exact middle of the space,” he continued.
“It’s like a choreography and we wanted to showcase the beauty of the process to all of the customers – from mixing the flour and water all the way to stocking up the bread shelf with freshly baked goods.”
The shelves display a range of the team’s favourite products
A red vinyl floor and walls painted in a delicate yellow hue are intended to reflect the colours of the bricks in the courtyard outside.
Peg coat racks and shelves wrap the walls while a 3.5-metre-tall bread shelf and long communal table fill up the centre of the space.
The stools were made by Rammelisten
All are made from solid elm with walnut detailing, with larger pieces such as the counter, bread rack, work table and shelves fabricated by a German carpentry firm. Smaller, movable items including the stools and benches were crafted by Rammelisten, a small woodwork studio based just north of Copenhagen.
“This was so that we could be more hands-on, follow the production and do alterations to the designs if we discovered issues,” explained Vedel Ottenstein.
Atelier Vime’s wicker lamp was decorated with a flower display by Danh Vo
The huge wicker pendant lamp that hangs over the communal table was handmade by French studio Atelier Vime and has been decorated with a flower display by local artist Danh Vo.
“The flower arrangement installed inside the shade is made from bast and hops flowers as a nod to the leftover waste from beer production that Frederik intends to use in the bread-making at Sofi,” explained Vedel Ottenstein.
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“The installation is a seasonal piece, where Danh Vo will bring in new flowers and plants according to the season from his farm north of Berlin, called Güldenhof,” he continued.
“He wishes to challenge the typical idea of a flower arrangement by using unexpected plants and weeds such as flowering leeks and lettuces.”
The bakery’s colourful glazed tableware comes from Studio X
A tall, open shelving unit separating the bakery and guest area displays a range of the team’s favourite products — including ceramics, coffee, tea, natural wines and flour from the Danish Kørnby mill.
Colourful glazed tableware by London’s Studio X, hand-crafted cups by Danish artist Kasper Hesselbjerg and vintage cutlery were all carefully selected by the design team and owners.
Sofi is not the first warm-hued bakery to feature on Dezeen. Design studio I IN decorated this tiny bakery in Japan in the colours of bread, while US studio The New Design Project outfitted a West Village cookie shop with speckled terrazzo, beige tiles and creamy walls to reference the baked goods for sale.
Photography is by Volker Conradus.
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