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      Ola Jachymiak Studio brightens Beam cafe in London with orange hues

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      Tangerine-coloured walls and terracotta-tile floors help enliven the formerly gloomy interior of Beam cafe in west London, designed by Ola Jachymiak Studio.Beam is nestled amongst a parade of shops in the affluent Notting Hill neighbourhood and serves up a menu of Mediterranean-inspired brunch dishes.

      The exterior of Beam cafe in London’s Notting Hill neighbourhood
      Locally-based Ola Jachymiak Studio was brought on board to design the cafe, tasked with creating an inviting interior that would be able to comfortably accommodate just over 90 customers.
      There was just one key issue – the cafe unit had an awkwardly long and narrow plan that allowed in very little sunlight. The studio therefore decided to utilise a colour and material palette that would foster a sense of brightness and warmth.

      Arched niches in the walls display amber-hued ornaments

      At the front of Beam is a casual seating area dressed with egg yolk-yellow armchairs and a couple of tropical potted plants.
      The black gridded windows that previously featured on the cafe’s facade have also been swapped for expansive panels of glazing. During the warmer summer months, these can be pushed back to let in more light and fresh air.

      A burnt-orange seating banquette is set against an exposed-brick wall
      Just beyond lies a more formal dining area. The wall on the right-hand side has been painted white and punctuated with arched niches that display amber-hued glass ornaments.
      On the left-hand side is an exposed brick wall. Along its lower half runs a curvaceous seating banquette upholstered in burnt-orange velvet.

      Tangerine-coloured paint covers the middle section of the cafe
      Tangerine-coloured paint has been applied to the walls in the middle section of the cafe, where the coffee and pastry bar is located.
      Customers who are getting their orders to-go can flick through the books and magazines displayed here on wall-mounted shelving units.

      The central coffee bar is made from oak and white Calacatta marble
      The base of the bar is lined with strips of oak, while the countertop is crafted from white Calacatta marble. Hanging directly overhead is a Bubble lamp by American designer George Nelson.

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      This section of the cafe also features flooring clad with terracotta tiles. The same tiles appear again in the bathrooms, covering the toilet cubicles and the arched panels that the sinks back onto.

      A lighting installation illuminates the dining area at the back of the cafe
      Additional dining tables and bistro-style chairs with orange seat cushions have been placed at the rear of Beam, which was once the darkest area of the cafe.
      To counter this, Ola Jachymiak Studio has created a light installation across the ceiling. It comprises several spherical pendant lamps from Danish brand New Works that have been suspended at different heights.
      Sheer white curtains have also been draped around the room’s periphery.

      More arched niches appear in the cafe’s bathrooms, which are lined with terracotta tiles
      Ola Jachymiak Studio was established in 2013. Its Beam project joins a number of trendy eateries in west London’s Notting Hill neighbourhood.
      Others include Cha Cha’s, a Latin-fusion restaurant that’s set within the three-floor HQ of fashion label Sister Jane.
      Photography is by Simon Carruthers.

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      Embers restaurant in Taipei features a “vortex” of cedar wood planks

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      Bowed panels of cedar form a chaotic vortex-like structure in Embers, a restaurant in Tapei’s Da’an district designed by local practice Curvink Architects.The structure, which Curvink Architects says could also be likened to a bird’s nest or whirlpool, sits over the bar of Embers. It’s shortlisted in the restaurant interior of the year category in the 2020 Dezeen Awards.

      The focal point of Embers is a vortex-like structure that sits above the restaurant’s bar
      To build the structure, Curvink Architects called on the help of designer and maker En-Kai Kuo. He sourced three 25-metre-high cedar trees from the forested mountainsides of Hsinchu, a city in northern Taiwan.
      The trees were being felled as part of thinning – a process where a select number of trees are purposefully removed in order to improve the health and growth rate of those remaining.

      Cedar planks were used to make the structure

      After being transported to a nearby timber factory, the three cedar trunks were sliced into thin layers and steam-bent. This formed arched panels which each span three metres in diameter.
      The panels were then set aside for several weeks to allow their curved form to stabilise.
      When the panels were brought on-site to Embers, Kuo haphazardly arranged them in a clockwise direction to create the final vortex-like structure. One cedar beam has been partially embedded into one of the restaurant’s structural columns to act as a counter where guests can rest their drinks.
      It’s illuminated by a striplight which has been fitted in the grooves of another beam hanging directly above.

      During the construction process, the cedar trunks were sliced into thin layers
      Beneath the structure sits a chunky serving island crafted from a further 64 cedar beams, which are stacked in an eight-by-eight formation.
      One end of the island has undergone shou sugi ban or yakisugi – a traditional Japanese method of wood preservation, where the surface is lightly charred to become waterproof and overall more durable.
      Inside, the island accommodates a small fridge, freezer and storage for tableware.

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      To keep diners’ attention on the sculpture, the restaurant’s fit-out is otherwise kept simple.
      Walls are loosely rendered with sandy-beige plaster, while the floor is finished with concrete. Pendant lamps made out of recycled glass have also been suspended from the ceiling.

      Some cedar beams have been inset with striplights
      Embers will go head-to-head against four other projects in this year’s Dezeen Awards. Among them is DooSooGoBang in South Korea, which is designed to reflect the humble practices of Buddhist monks.
      There’s also Voisin Organique in China, which features soaring ceilings and shadowy dining areas to make guests feel as if they’re “wandering in a valley”.
      Photography is courtesy of En-Kai Kuo.
      Project credits:
      Design: En-Kai Kuo with Yu-Hao Huang, Curvink ArchitectsAdditional cooperators: Wes Kuo, Kit-Chen, Your Kitchen Ally, Yule Space, Weihsun Chen, Zhēnzhēn Lab

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      Neri&Hu keeps time-worn details in Parisian restaurant Papi

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      A huge cylindrical volume clad in white tiles sits amongst aged stone walls inside Papi, a restaurant in Paris designed by Neri&Hu.Papi can be found in the French capital’s ninth arrondissement, taking over the ground floor of a 19th-century Haussmann building.

      Top image: the exterior of Papi. Above: steel-framed windows can be pushed back to open up the restaurant to the street
      Rather than modernising the 52-square-metre site of the restaurant, Neri&Hu has instead tried to showcase the “layers of material heritage” that denote the building’s long and storied past.
      The Shanghai-based studio explained the building works had to be carried out “as carefully as an archaeological dig”.

      Neri & Hu stripped back the interior to expose old brick and limestone surfaces

      “Every single existing element was meticulously examined, and the challenge was in resisting the urge to fix every imperfection, to instead honour the imprint of time upon each surface,” added Neri&Hu.
      “Each fragment represents a different period in Paris’ history, forming a beautiful yet challenging existing canvas for [Neri&Hu] to intervene.”

      The dining area is enclosed within a cylindrical volume
      Wallcoverings and finishes that have built up over the years from previous occupants have been peeled back to reveal the building’s older brick or limestone surfaces.
      Aged stone moulding that borders the entrance door has also been exposed, and a slim cut-out has been made in the facade to reveal an existing steel lintel.
      Similar steel has been used to frame the expansive panels of glazing that front the restaurant. These can be slid back during the warmer months, diffusing the boundary between Papi’s diners and passersby on the street.

      Slim white tiles clad the inside and outside of the volume
      The most significant contemporary addition that Neri&Hu have made to the interior is a towering cylindrical volume that encompasses Papi’s eating area.
      Clad in narrow white tiles, the volume has been placed slightly off-centre so that it butts up against the right-hand side of the restaurant.

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      Inside are a handful of wooden dining tables and chairs. Guests can alternatively opt to sit on one of the bench seats that have been fitted in the birch plywood-lined openings running around the perimeter of the volume.

      The volume hugs against the restaurant’s right-hand wall
      Other than a couple of tube lights – specifically chosen by Neri&Hu to stand in “stark modern contrast” to the crumbling stone walls – decor in Papi has been kept to a minimum.
      A few mirrors have also been incorporated within the cylinder.
      “[The mirrors] create dynamic perspectives and voyeuristic moments between interior and exterior, but also invite guests within to cross gazes,” concluded the studio.

      Bench seats have been integrated into the volume’s openings
      Neri&Hu has been established since 2004. Other projects that the studio has completed this year include a cultural centre in Beijing that’s covered with aluminium louvres and a hotel in Taipei that takes design cues from the city’s urban landscape.
      Photography is by Simone Bossi.

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      A-nrd looks to Mexico to craft interiors of Kol restaurant in London

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      Yucatán, Oaxaca and Mexico City are some of the places that the founder of studio A-nrd visited in preparation of designing the interiors of Kol, a restaurant in central London. Kol is situated in the capital’s Marylebone neighbourhood. It’s headed up by notable chef Santiago Lastra, who has designed the menu of the two-storey restaurant
      The post A-nrd looks to Mexico to craft interiors of Kol restaurant in London appeared first on Dezeen. More

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      Lim + Lu bridges old and new inside Yung's Bistro in Hong Kong

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      Multidisciplinary studio Lim + Lu has based the interior of Yung’s Bistro in Hong Kong on the rich history of its 78-year-old sister restaurant.Yung’s Bistro is an offshoot of esteemed Hong Kong restaurant, Yung Kee, which was founded by Kam Shui-fai as a modest outdoor food stall – known as a dai pai dong – before a brick-and-mortar restaurant was opened in 1942.
      Over the past 78 years the restaurant, which is still in operation, has become revered for its take on Cantonese cuisine and is particularly well known for its roast goose dish.

      Top image: the interior of Yung’s Bistro. Above: a communal table anchors the more casual dining section of the restaurant

      The newly launched Yung’s Bistro is presided over by Shui-fai’s granddaughter, who tasked local studio Lim + Lu with devising a contemporary interior scheme that honours the humble beginnings of its predecessor, Yung Kee.
      “For this project, the client’s brief is rather abstract; remembering their roots while paving the path for the future,” said the studio, which is led by Vincent Lim and Elaine Lu.
      “It was important that the design draws inspiration from the flagship restaurant and allows customers to recognize that this new restaurant is born of the same meticulous DNA towards food preparation and detail-oriented customer service.”

      The tiled drinks bar sits beneath a gridded brass framework
      A subtle mix of old and new has therefore been incorporated throughout Yung’s Bistro, which is loosely divided into two halves.
      The front half of the restaurant plays host to a more casual dining area. At its centre is a communal brass-edged dining table, included as a wink to Yung Kee’s early days as a food stall when customers would often have to share tables because of the scarcity of space in the surrounding alleyway.
      The table is surrounded by green-velvet chairs with slim brass legs, while a series of lantern-like pendant lights by Danish designer Lucie Kass dangle overhead.

      One wall is lined with patterned tiles with brushed-gold detailing
      A corrugated wall runs down one side of the casual dining area, serving as a backdrop to the drinks bar. The curved, C-shaped counter of the bar is clad with sea-green tiles, contrasting the pink stool seats that have been placed directly in front.
      Glassware and trailing plants are openly displayed in a gridded brass framework that’s been suspended from the ceiling. It’s meant to loosely resemble the bamboo scaffolding which is often used in the construction of Hong Kong’s skyscrapers.

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      The wall behind the restaurant’s cashier desk and merchandise shelves are lined with patterned green tiles with brushed-gold detailing, which were cast from tiles that were installed in Yung Kee in 1978.

      The formal dining section of Yung’s Bistro lies at the rear of the restaurantt
      A formal dining area lies in the rear half of Yung’s Bistro, which monochromatic flooring and circular dining tables that Lim + Lu says are more traditional to Chinese restaurants.
      Chefs can be seen bustling away at work in the kitchen through a sequence of brass windows that run down the side of the room.
      “This view of the kitchen is atypical of Chinese cuisine – however, when the kitchen prepares the goose that made its predecessor one of the most famous restaurants in town, it is a true attraction,” the studio explained.

      Screened windows peek through to the kitchen
      Each of the windows has been fitted with a slatted screen that can be drawn down if the chefs in the kitchen want more privacy.
      When drawn-up the screens almost create an awning over the dining tables, another nod to dai pai dong culture where unfurled awning typically symbolises that a food stall is open for business.
      “Yung’s Bistro serves as a quintessential bridge between old and new, a traditional cultural cuisine of Hong Kong meeting more western and contemporary values,” added the studio. “It is a lesson in respecting what has come before, but also the courage for innovation.”

      This side of the restaurant features monochromatic flooring and circular dining tables
      Lim + Lu was established in 2015. Other Hong Kong projects by the studio include the revamp of a fashion designer’s apartment, which was brightened up with pops of yellow, turquoise and coral-pink, and the transformation of an old warehouse into a home for two artists and their five pets.
      Photography is by Lit Ma of Common Studio.

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      Imafuku Architects completes Dongshang bar in Beijing with bamboo surfaces

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      Canes of bamboo interlace across the ceiling to form a canopy above guests in this bar in Beijing, China designed by Imafuku Architects.Dongshang – which is shortlisted in the bar interior category of this year’s Dezeen Awards – offers an extensive menu of sake and whiskies from Japan, as well as a selection of Japanese dishes.
      When it came to designing the interiors of the bar, Imafuku Architects wanted to use a material that spoke of the bar’s Japanese menu, as well as its Chinese location – bamboo immediately came to mind.

      Bamboo lines the upper half of the corridor leading into Dongshang

      “The history of planting and using bamboo in these two countries can be traced back to ancient times,” explained the studio. “Both Chinese and Japanese people have utilized bamboo as a material for construction, furniture, containers and even art pieces.”
      “Dongshang invites guests on a story of traditional aesthetics and crafting techniques of the two countries through the contemporary reinterpretation of bamboo.”

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      The studio had also become particularly inspired by the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove, a group of Chinese scholars, musicians and writers from the third century who would convene in a bamboo grove to escape the turmoil and corruption associated with the royal courts at the time.

      The bamboo is fixed to the walls with brass nails
      Guests are led into Dongshang through a long corridor. The bottom half of the walls here are lined with dark grey terrazzo, while thin strips of bamboo have been affixed to the upper half with brass nails.
      Some of the bamboo strips arch up and away from the wall to form a lattice across the ceiling. Spotlights have been installed directly above the latticework so that, when switched on, light dapples the surrounding surfaces much like “sunshine filtering through tree leaves”.

      A “canopy” of criss-cross bamboo canes appears in the main dining room
      The terrazzo and bamboo-strip walls continue into Donshang’s main dining space. Mushroom-coloured sofas and armchairs have been dotted throughout, arranged around square wooden tables.
      Canes of bamboo have been arranged into a criss-cross-pattern “canopy” on the ceiling, a feature that the studio hopes will lend the room a cosier and more intimate ambience.

      Mushroom-coloured furnishings have been used to dress the space
      More bamboo canes appear at the rear of the room but have been stood upright to create a fluted feature wall behind the drinks bar. Backlit liquor bottles are openly displayed on three-millimetre-thick shelves crafted from steel.
      A splash of colour is offered by the high chairs that run around the bar counter, which are upholstered in sapphire-blue velvet.

      Bamboo canes create a feature wall behind the bar
      Dongshang restaurant will compete in the 2020 Dezeen Awards against projects such as J Boroski by Atelier XY, which is decorated with over 1,000 insects, and The Berkeley Bar & Terrace by Bryan O’Sullivan Studio, which includes a cosy, pink-hued snug where guests can enjoy their cocktails.
      Photography is courtesy of Ruijing Photo.

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      DooSooGoBang restaurant in South Korea references Buddhist practices

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      The ascetic lifestyle and diets of Korean Buddist monks influenced the interiors that Limtaehee Design Studio has created for DooSooGoBang restaurant in the city of Suwon, South Korea.DooSooGoBang, which is shortlisted in the restaurant interior category of this year’s Dezeen Awards, is located east of Suwon in the district of Yeongtong-gu and serves Korean temple food.
      The cuisine originated 1,700 years ago in Korea’s early Buddhist temples and sees organic, seasonal meals prepared without the use of onions, garlic, chives, leeks and spring onions.

      The main dining hall of DooSooGoBang restaurant
      Monks and nuns typically avoid these five ingredients as they’re said to disrupt harmonious spiritual practice, instead relying on elements such as mushroom powders and fermented soybean pastes for flavour.

      These practices came to be a key point of reference for Limtaehee Design Studio, which wanted the interiors of the restaurant to evoke the same “humbleness” as a Korean Buddhist temple and the dishes developed there.

      A platform at the back of the room is used for traditional Korean-style dining, where guests sit on floor cushions
      The restaurant has been divided into three areas – the first is a spacious hall-style room which will act as the main dining room, finished with black-tile flooring and walls washed with pale grey plaster.
      Cabinets around the room openly display ceramic ornaments.

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      Towards the rear of the room is a platform where diners can eat seated on floor cushions, in traditional Korean style. Additional bench seats and wooden dining tables have also been scattered throughout the room.

      Shutters look through to the second dining area
      Wooden shutters lead through to the restaurant’s second area, which is meant to have a more intimate ambience.
      “Contrary to a rather public image of the main hall, this area offers a feeling that you are away from the city and meditating in a temple in the mountains,” explained the studio.
      The focal point of the room is the timber-inlaid dining table, which has a stream of water trickling down from its side into a rough stone bowl that sits on the floor.

      The room is arranged around a communal table inlaid with timber
      Diners must take off their shoes before entering the third area of the restaurant, which has been entirely lined in white hanji – a type of Korean paper handmade from the inner bark of a mulberry tree.
      Limtaehee Design Studio likens this area to a sarangbang, a room in a traditional Korean home sometimes used for leisure activities or to entertain visitors.
      “We prepared this room imagining [head chef] Jung Kwan sharing conversation with guests, or relaxing herself,” the studio added.

      The restaurant’s third dining area is lined with hanji paper
      Limtaehee Design Studio is based in Seoul. Its DooSooGoBang project will compete in this year’s Dezeen Awards against projects such as Tori Tori by Esware Studio, an eatery in Mexico that takes design cues from the armour of a samurai warrior.
      Also in the running is Voisin Organique by Various Associates, a restaurant in China with shadowy rooms and soaring ceilings intended to make diners feel like they’re wandering through a mountain valley.
      Photography is by Youngchae Park.

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      Ritz & Ghougassian uses bricks and Australian wood inside Melbourne's Prior cafe

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      The rustic materiality of this Melbourne cafe designed by architecture studio Ritz & Ghougassian is meant to reflect the fuss-free dishes on the menu.Prior is situated along the lively high street of Melbourne’s Thornbury suburb, taking over a building that once served as an industrial printing house.

      Prior cafe occupies a building that was once a printing house
      When Ritz & Ghougassian were brought on board to develop the interiors of the cafe, it stripped back any decorative elements left behind from the old fit-out, only preserving the brick walls and eight-metre-high truss ceiling.

      “It was clear to us that we had to honour the original space by proposing an intervention that sat apart from the original framework of the building,” the studio’s co-founder, Jean-Paul Ghougassian, told Dezeen.

      Bricks cover the cafe’s floor and the base of the service bar
      The space now features just a handful of elements made from unfussy materials that reflect the simple “paddock-to-plate” ethos that Prior applies to its menu.
      Bricks run across the floor and form the base of the service bar that lies on one side of the room.

      Concrete and terrazzo furniture feature in Ritz&Ghougassian’s minimal cafe interior

      Apricot-hued concrete forms the upper half of the bar and the chunky ledge that runs around its outer side, providing a place for customers to rest beverages or snacks.
      The hot drinks menu is presented on a mirrored panel behind the bar. It stands beside a single shelf that displays a curated selection of wine or bags of coffee which are available to buy.

      Apricot-hued concrete forms the top of the service bar
      “Honest, elegant and refined flavours informed the built environment; by taking a reductive approach to the design both in materiality and form ultimately allowed the food to be the hero,” Ghougassian explained.
      “Rather than simply creating a slick new eatery, there’s a warmth and richness to the space, celebrating the unevenness and rough textures of the walls and floors.”

      Seating throughout the cafe is crafted from Australian Blackbutt wood
      Customers can alternatively dine at the black-steel counters that have been built into the cafe’s front windows or along the seating banquette that runs along the far side of the room, upholstered in chestnut-brown leather.
      The banquette faces onto a row of dining tables which, along with the cafe’s bench-style seats and stools, have been crafted from Australian Blackbutt wood.
      “Like much of our work, using materials that are locally sourced and manufactured is important to us – this brings about an authenticity and specificity to the design that isn’t easily replicated,” added Ghougassian.

      There’s also a brown-leather seating banquette
      At the centre of the floor plan is a box filled with timber logs and a wood burner that the studio hopes will serve as a comforting focal point of the cafe, especially during the chilly winter months.
      Surrounding walls and the ceiling were freshened up with a coat of white paint.

      A wood burner sits at the centre of the cafe
      Ritz & Ghougassian was founded in 2016 by Jean-Paul Ghougassian and Gilad Ritz. Prior isn’t the only cafe that the studio has designed in its home city of Melbourne – back in 2018 it completed Bentwood, which boasts brick-red interiors.
      In 2017, the studio also created Penta, a minimal cafe that features concrete, terrazzo and silver-metal surfaces.
      Photography is by Tom Ross.

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