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  • Folding polycarbonate wall reveals earthy interiors of São Paulo wellness space Dois Trópicos

    Brazilian studio MNMA has designed a spiral concrete stair and folding polycarbonate doors in this botanical store, yoga classroom and restaurant in São Paulo.Dois Trópicos has a calming earthy palette featuring local materials and crafts that MNMA chose to complement the functions of the wellness hub.

    “The concept of the project is a hybrid space, there is no determination or boundaries. We want a space that integrates gastronomy, the practice of yoga and botany,” MNMA explained. “Where people can feel in every way the importance of spending time in the chaotic city of Sao Paulo to take care of themselves, slowly and with pleasure.”

    “A commercial space that creates a homelike hosting experience, using nostalgia and natural matter, crafted by artisan hands that desire to achieve not perfection but real environments,” it added.

    Translucent polycarbonate doors set in aluminium frames front the exterior to contrast the earthy aesthetic, and allow natural light and cross-ventilation.
    “By contrast, the facade is technological, drafted and executed with precision, thought to allow sun and wind in, to avoid artificial air conditioning systems,” the studio explained.

    “The general purpose is to create a contemporary element that, when opened, would bring back some lost time of ancient forms of construction, a slow passing of time, an earthy place… it feels like ‘home’.” the studio continued.

    Slender terracotta-coloured bricks made by local craftsmen cover the flooring and form structures for washbasins, while textured soil-based render is applied by hand to the walls throughout.

    “We don’t use conventional paint to colour the walls, we literally use earth (like clay) to give this colour, the walls and ceilings are natural earth colours, we don’t use anything chemical,” MNMA said.

    Cracked floors and weathered wood feature in minimal São Paulo shoe store

    “The soil reacts allegorically to the sunlight movement along the day, turning walls, ceilings and the floor not into limits or boundaries, but into canvases for the light to express itself gradually in various forms,” it added. “As it is possible to enjoy comfortably great and authentic food, full of flavours.”

    A spiral staircase at the entrance has a rendered banister and concrete treads with a marked underside that was built using leftover wood on the construction site. It leads up to an open studio space for yoga and massages.
    “The shape was made with materials reused from demolition,” it explained. “The experience was more important than the performance of the technique, so the drawings that are usually super strict gave voice to the empiricism of the local artisans workers,” the studio added.

    A circular door punctured in the rear wall to provides access to stairs that lead down to a restaurant on the lower level. Granite gravel is laid the floor of the outdoor areas to allow for drainage of water. A glazed roof partially covers the restaurant and bar – which is also made from the pale bricks.
    Founded by André Pepato and Mariana Schmidt, MNMA has used a similarly pared-back aesthetic for a number of spaces in São Paulo. They include a retail space for Brazilian women’s clothing store Egrey and a store for shoe company Selo.
    Photography is by Andre Klotz.

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  • Remi restaurant in Berlin is defined by cherry-red joinery

    Red-stained cabinets crafted from MDF surround the open kitchen of restaurant Remi in Berlin designed by local studio Ester Bruzkus Architekten.Remi is situated near Berlin’s Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz square and is led up by Dutch chefs Lode van Zuylen and Stijn Remi.

    This is the second restaurant that the pair have in the German capital, joining Lode & Stijn which opened its doors in 2016.

    As with their inaugural restaurant, the chefs were keen for Remi to have a pared-back aesthetic – but also wanted the space to be reminiscent of the dining spots they once frequented at home in the Netherlands.

    “For Remi, we were inspired by the grand cafes of our home, where we used to enjoy eating together,” Zuylen and Remi explained.
    “We wanted to create a place where you could meet easily, whether for reading the newspaper, a quick lunch, or an intimate dinner.”

    Local studio Ester Bruzkus Architekten was brought on board to develop the interiors of Remi, which takes over the ground floor unit of a new concrete and glass office building.
    The restaurant is anchored by an open kitchen, enclosed by a series of MDF cabinets that have been stained a deep cherry red hue.

    A handful of surfaces in the kitchen have been covered in rough grey stucco, while sheets of perforated metal have been used to conceal service ducts that sit beneath the ceiling.
    “We used architectural materials that are high in quality, carefully sourced and crafted, with rigorous attention to detail,” the studio told Dezeen, “this is the very approach to ingredients that the chefs bring to crafting a meal.”

    The same red shade of MDF has been used to make the tall gridded shelves that run along the rear wall of the restaurant, openly displaying wine bottles, glassware and jars of ingredients.
    Cherry-red MDF has then been combined with black granite to form the service counter where guests are greeted by staff before being shown to their table.

    Metal-frame dining tables with grey countertops designed bespoke by Ester Bruzkus Architekten have been dotted throughout the room.
    One long communal table where guests are encouraged to “linger all day” has also been placed beside the restaurant’s entrance.

    Berlin restaurant LA Poke takes its cues from Hockney painting A Bigger Splash

    Each table is accompanied by timber or acid-yellow chairs by Danish furnishing brand Please Wait To Be Seated. There’s additionally a couple of wooden benches with seat cushions upholstered in mustard corduroy fabric by Kvadrat.
    Red, yellow and steel editions of Muller Van Severen’s Hanging Lamps have been mounted on the restaurant’s walls as decoration. White-neon tube lights also wind and intersect across the ceiling.

    Ester Bruzkus Architekten has been established since 2002. Remi isn’t the only Berlin restaurant designed by the studio – back in 2018, it completed LA Poke.
    Taking cues from David Hockney’s 1967 painting A Bigger Splash, the eatery features vibrant pops of summery hues such as cobalt blue and sunshine yellow.
    Photography is by Robert Rieger.

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  • Burnt-red tiles and hessian feature inside Dough Pizza restaurant in Perth

    Interior design firm Ohlo Studio used materials that evoke the “rustic sophistication” of Italy to create the interiors of Dough Pizza restaurant in Perth.Dough Pizza takes over a unit of Westfield Whitford City shopping centre which lies just north of central Perth.

    Locally based Ohlo Studio was tasked with designing the interiors and set out to create an aesthetic that, like the restaurant’s name, is “timeless and no-fuss”.

    The studio also wanted the space to texturally reflect Italy and the country’s “rustic sophistication”.
    “It needed to evoke a distinct atmosphere and personality reinforcing the cultural heritage behind the food,” explained the studio.

    On one side of the restaurant, burnt-red tiles have been used to line the lower half of the wall.
    Just in front lies a seating banquette upholstered in taupe-coloured fabric, accompanied by wooden tables and white wicker dining chairs. Slim disc-like pendant lights have been suspended from the ceiling directly overhead.
    The same red tiles clad the central bar counter. It’s surrounded by wooden fold-out high chairs, where customers can sit and eat within view of the open kitchen or grab a quick drink.

    A wall on the opposite side of the restaurant has been completely lined in hessian, which extends down to cover a chunky plinth that runs in front.
    The plinth serves as a base for a series of tobacco-hued cushioned seats that can be easily pushed together or apart to suit different-sized groups of diners.

    Homely decor elements such as ceramic vases, potted plants and tiny lamps have been dotted throughout to evoke the same feel as a “neighbourhood Italian espresso bar”.
    Large photographic prints that capture scenes from sun-drenched Italian beaches have also been mounted on the walls.

    Pink marble and patchy concrete emulate ancient Rome in Melbourne’s Pentolina pasta bar

    In a bid to contrast the commercial setting of the shopping centre, the studio has applied the same selection of warm materials used inside the restaurant to its exterior.
    “The tiled bar puncturing the facade also activates the boundary and creates a playful entry,” added the studio.

    Ohlo Studio was founded by interior architect Jen Lowe and is based in Perth’s South Fremantle suburb.
    The studio’s Dough Pizza project is one of several trendy Italian eateries across Australia. Others include Glorietta by Alexander & Co, which features wooden furnishings and a caged rattan ceiling.
    There’s also Pentolina by Biasol, which has worn concrete walls and pink-marble fixtures to emulate the materiality of Ancient Rome.

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  • Biasol channels 1980s nostalgia inside Melbourne restaurant Billie Buoy

    Design studio Biasol clashed hot pink and midnight blue to form the bold interiors of this 1980s-inspired restaurant in Melbourne, Australia.Billie Buoy occupies a corner plot in Melbourne’s Essendon neighbourhood and has been designed by local studio Biasol as a “1980s character who was radical, hip and a little offbeat”.
    To capture the mood of the 1980s, the studio closely studied the era and its quirky pop culture.

    “We looked back to the days before the internet and cell phones – we dusted off our Atari and Walkman, put a John Hughes movie in the VHS, and jammed to New Order and Madonna,” said the studio.

    “The interiors and branding were developed in unison to create high impact and strengthen Billie Buoy’s appeal.”

    When it came to creating a colour palette for the 60-square-metre restaurant, the studio selected two shades that it felt were synonymous with the 1980s – blue and hot pink.
    Where possible, different textures and materials have been introduced to foster a greater sense of “depth, richness and variation”.

    Midnight-blue paint covers the walls and ceiling. The same hue of felt has been used to upholster the seating banquette that curves around the wall of the entryway and the accompanying stools.
    A mixture of navy and speckled black bricks have then been laid across the floor, while white-terrazzo dining tables inlaid with blue flecks of aggregate have been dotted throughout the dining rooms.
    A glossy, powder-blue service counter that features a bold scallop pattern has also been erected in front of the drinks bar.

    Vibrant hot-pink details come in the form of the coffee grinders and a neon text sign on the wall. A series of vaulted steel storage shelves also appear throughout the restaurant, two behind the bar and three in the entrance dining area which are used to openly display crockery.
    Doorways that lead through to the customer bathrooms and back-of-house facilities for staff are also arched in form.

    Biasol uses green tones for update of Melbourne’s Main Street cafe

    The project also saw Biasol apply midnight-blue paint across the restaurant’s exterior.
    One street-facing wall is emblazoned with the words “wake me up when I’m famous”, which the studio hopes will become a prime spot to snap photos for Instagram.

    Biasol was founded in 2012 by Jean-Pierre Biasol and works out of offices in Melbourne’s Cremorne suburb.
    Billie Buoy is one of several eateries that the studio has designed around the city of Melbourne. Others include Main Street cafe, which is decked out with monochrome tiles and deep-green furnishings, and Pentolina, a pasta bar with worn concrete walls which are meant to emulate the streets of Ancient Rome.
    Photography is by Timothy Kaye.

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  • Canadian surf town informs design for taco restaurant by September

    Natural colours and beach textures from a Canadian surf town informed the design of this Vancouver restaurant by local studio September.Kit’s Burrito Bar is located on West 4th Street in the city’s Kitsilano neighbourhood. It is the latest outpost of Tacofino, a Mexican restaurant that serves tacos and burritos in a Californian style.

    September took cues from the “natural features” of Tofino, a small beachside town on the coast of Vancouver Island to outfit the 2,000 square foot (185.8-square-metre) space.

    “The client had requested a fresh space that made reference to Tofino, the Canadian Surf town where the clients live and started the business,” the studio said.

    “To do this we focused on using the minimal amount of materials necessary to make reference to the natural features the area is known for.”

    Exposed electrical wiring is strung across the white ceilings and walls in patterns intended to mimic the shape of ocean waves. Streaks of green paint curve up the walls in similar shapes.
    A banquette constructed with pale green cedar slats wraps around the water tap to form a wall of seating. The sculptural paneling also hangs above the all-black service counter fronted with black rocks and is used at the check-in desk at the entrance.

    To accent the plain walls and the black furnishings the earthy colour is also used on the countertop, bathroom door and bathroom wall.

    Green and yellow Eames chairs fill Tacofino Ocho restaurant in Vancouver

    Each of the rectangular dining tables is topped with black and white beach stone terrazzo slabs designed in collaboration with a local artist. Black chairs with slender wire backs from Afteroom Studio are arranged around the tables.

    Asymmetrical menu boards with black text display the eatery’s offerings. In the bathroom, an irregular, oval-shaped mirror by local designer Kate Richard attaches to the vibrant green wall.
    “References to water and natural forms appear in the wall menu, ovoid mirrors, custom beach stone tabletops, and artwork,” the studio added.

    To brighten the dark restaurant, which is situated partially below grade, a series of bulbs attached to the round sockets fasten to the curving electrical conduit that meanders throughout the space.
    September is a residential and hospitality design firm led by Brendan Callander and Shiloh Sukkau.

    Before establishing the studio in 2019 Sukkau worked on the design for other Tacofino locations, including Tacofino Ocho furnished with Eames dining chairs and bar stools and Oasis, modelled after mid-century Mexican resort towns.
    Photography is by Vishal Marapon.

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  • Moody interiors of Le Pristine restaurant by Space Copenhagen take cues from the Old Masters

    Danish design studio Space Copenhagen has used subdued shades of green and grey to deck out the dining room of Le Pristine restaurant in Antwerp, Belgium. Le Pristine, which is headed up by three-Michelin-star chef Sergio Herman, occupies a 1960s modernist building. Years of unfinished renovation works meant that the building’s interior had several patchy
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  • Outdoor dining “last chance” for many restaurants says Ben Masterton-Smith

    As a result of social distancing rules many restaurants will have to reduce their indoor capacities when they reopen. Architect Ben Masterton-Smith believes that creating enjoyable alfresco dining areas may be key to restaurants’ survival. Masterton-Smith, who is the founder of Transit Studio, has created Social Soho – a proposal to temporarily pedestrianise pockets of London’s […] More