Uncle, St Kilda 

Foolscap Studio

Uncle is a casual restaurant, bar and rooftop split onto two floors in St Kilda, serving Vietnamese street food. A key factor in the new design and refurbishment by Foolscap Studio was balance and harmony.

The design studio were called in on Uncle’s 12 month anniversary to rework the space, as “the two spaces had a split personality that wasn’t working,” said front-of-house manager Rene Spence.

This distinct difference from bar to restaurant now acts as a complementary process: the downstairs bar channelling the buzz and atmosphere of a Vietnamese city-scape at night, and the upstairs restaurant employing the simplicity and freshness of the Vietnamese countryside.

Uncle is a term used throughout Vietnam to show endearment and respect, and similarly, the concept was designed to pay homage to the cultural nuances of Vietnam and Southeast Asia.

There is hanging-basket style lighting, above the bar which are hand woven, recycled, hawker-style plastic hats, that have been re-purposed as light fittings. The undulating canopy of light fittings was intended to bring a lightness and colour to the space.

Complementary to this, the dining area is characterised by a more expansive atmosphere. Taste elements of sour and spicy are visually interpreted as wood and earth and are evident in the use of lighter timber and wood textures and flourishes of indoor greenery.

Taking the elements of Wu Xing – wood, fire, earth, metal and water – to inform the design of both the bar and dining spaces, a colour palette and materials were extrapolated from each element.

Bitter, spicy and salty were the characteristics chosen for the bar, conceived as a more intimate, urban space. It is distinguished by a darker colour palette with highlights of red and a textural reference to metal, steel and fibres; such as the custom wallpaper created in-house, using the texture of woven rattan.

The images on the wall are custom prints. These ‘paste ups’ are a reference to the notion of the street and were taken from found images from Vietnam, including family photos and personal artefacts of chef and co-owner, Dai Duong. The images were then scaled and pasted on-site by artist Mark Gody.

The personality and sociability of Dai Duong, Rene Spence and Bowen Holden naturally meant the inclusion of local artists and designers to help bring the space to life. Waiters wear handmade leather aprons by Wooten, and the colours of hand-thrown ceramic crockery by Fork Ceramics help link the cuisine to the interior space.

The Room: 

LAI Studio Architects

The Room is an exclusive club located in the heart of Milan’s Porta Romana with a New York atmosphere and fresh redesign by Lai Studio.

With an area of 350 square meters and a small outdoor area outside, The Room presents a tasteful architectural structure on two levels. It is an imposing, post-industrial space, full of characteristic style, accompanied by a reinterpretation of street food which makes The Room a multifaceted place made of taste, art and talent.

Previously a corporate office, the space has been remodelled to fit in a semi-transparent kitchen, hidden by a large, backlit bar with counter and a tall shelf for bottles. This then extends up to the ceiling, expanding in an intricate three dimensional ‘cloud’ of lights that fill the vast space above the bar.

The bar itself forms part of the lighting design concept, where many of the lighting sources are embedded into various custom made structures. The Room restaurant and club has a mezzanine floor overlooking the dance floor, dominated by an imposing staircase and the main entrance with cloakroom, glows with warm lighting to welcome patrons.

The split dining areas each have their own formidable chandeliers – a square-frame wire mesh chandelier on one side and the second, a more classic chandelier, with hundreds of hanging candle lamps at varying heights.

All the tables are custom made at different heights, with armchairs and stools that have been chosen from Italian manufactures for great international design and to offer an interesting selection of modern-classic seating options.

A combination of materials are used to great effect throughout the space including: metal mesh, coupled glass, bamboo boards, custom prints on the walls and of course the LED strips for the lights.

Aja Restaurant: Arch.lab

‘Aja’ is a restaurant in India that generates intrigue by using the familiar urban Chandigarh setting and creating an unexpected landscape. Arch.lab created a unique environment to reflect the character of the city, and realised a space where nature fuses seamlessly with art.

The entire interior is sunken from ground level, separating the space physically and psychologically from the outdoor environment, with the restaurant space accessed by a sloping ramp.

Acting as a bridge between the outdoors and indoors, the ramp leads the transition from the two environments. A person’s body and mind are taken through a journey: to their own personal Garden of Herbs, evoking their senses of sight and smell with its aroma and flavours. Aja offers a completely unseen world with a unique blend of nature with architecture.

The most significant among the multitudinous materials used, is concrete, which was sensitively explored to achieve the desired impact and finish. Concrete, often referred to as “The Molten Stone” by Le Corbusier, was chosen to allow the freedom of casting into any form. This gave the designers’ artistic impressions of a monolithic creation, a permanent, physical form, fused with life.

The space is also designed to favour interactions, exchanges and relationships, with bench seating and long tables. Centred around ‘The Community Table’, a long black stone slab which sculpts round the Herb Garden, encapsulates the whole ethos of Aja. It puts the emphasis on the sense of collaboration and community.

Drawn chalk graphics along the cement walls bring the story of the food to life, inspiring food lovers to think about its diversity. The artwork also plays with ideas of contemporary urban food culture.

Adding warmth and texture to the space is the ‘Emerging Blocks’ art piece. From floor to ceiling it grows upwards, with stacked blocks of wood jutting out in an almost random pattern, the wood complimenting the family of custom furniture in the long narrow space.

The furniture was designed and developed to complement the special character and togetherness created in such a unique landscape. A structure of metal pipes merging, and criss-crossing in a labyrinth, culminate to form the chairs and bench tables. Bold solid wood, tops the pipes, with some dark stone topping other pipes to form tables.

Keeping in mind the sustainable concept of a ‘zero km market’, most of the elements for Aja, such as the vertical light fixtures, concrete wall panels and furniture, have been fabricated in and around the site, with the Herb Garden further adding to the sustainability of the project.

Nozomi Sushi Bar (Valencia): Masquespacio

Nozomi Sushi Bar is designed by Masquespacio who have studied Japanese culture, and used it throughout 2014 as inspiration for the branding and interiors for this Sushi bar chain.

The concept for this project represents the duality between ‘emotional classic’ and the ‘rational contemporary’ of the Japanese culture. It is a reinterpretation of a Japanese village street, with the ancient craft of origami and the origin of sushi, juxtaposed with a mobile sushi stall.

Upon entering the restaurant these two concepts immediately catch the eye; the concrete façade of the entrance and the classic Japanese carpentry. The idea of the entrance is to make customers feel as though they are experiencing a live Japanese street, getting excited about the construction details of Japanese carpentry, and feeling stunned by it’s beauty.

A cube in the centre of the space creates two ‘streets’ which lead patrons toward the central lounge. On an aesthetic level a Japanese village street has clearly been reinterpreted through different modules, representing a market, pharmacy, doors and windows. The rooftops in turn interpret the contemporary and rational part, with a Japanese inclination.

Upon reaching the central lounge, one can enjoy authentic sushi beneath a ‘cherry tree,’ surrounded by origami-inspired flowers that bloom naturally; as though you are in a Japanese courtyard.

Each diner can watch sushi being created at the sushi bar, a reinterpretation of a sushi peddler, the first ever mobile fast-food stalls.

The main space incorporates both the rational contemporary elements, and the emotional classic- creating a continuous, open flow, very typical of Eastern architecture.

Even the warehouse and bathrooms reflect the decorative concepts; the use of concrete, wood and open architecture. This includes the rational contemporary lines and emotional natural wood.

Rational contemporary aspects of the space are formed through the western typography and structural parts of the 233m square space. The walls, ceilings and floors are grey and pure concrete is used as a contemporary material.

An emotional classic touch is added through the logo written in Hiragana (Japanese syllabary), while the warmth is added from natural wood, hand finishes and the introduction of carpentry.

A private dining area allows for more intimacy, without losing the authentic experience of being able to watch the goings-on below. Shadows generated by the lighting features are left naturally to highlight the irregular carpentry.

Architect Ana Milena Hernández Palacios studied photographs of authentic Japanese streets in order to create a metaphorical version in Nozomi.

She said “During the execution of the project many people have been nominating [Kyoto] as a typical street… something that happened mainly because it is where the most traditional Japanese houses are preserved today.”

The brand name ‘Nozomi’ was chosen as it is a high speed Japanese bullet train, and also means the ‘fulfilment of dreams’ – both of which José and Nuria identified with, and which create a duality present throughout the project.

Valencia-based, this is the last of the Nozomi Sushi restaurants from José Miguel Herrera and Nuria Morell, authentic traditional sushi specialists who are passionate about Japanese culture.

Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée: 
Jouin Manku Design Studio

Patrick Jouin and Sanjit Manku of Jouin Manku Design Studio created two restaurant spaces: one ambience for breakfast and another for the haute-cuisine restaurant, differentiated by the tableware, the lighting and totally different spatial organisations.

As you enter the restaurant, huge stainless-steel domes reflect the crystals of the ceiling chandelier, the only retained element of the restaurant’s former design.

These unusual domes form banquettes where diners can sit, or screen off groups of tables and chairs. A witty and elegant twist on the traditional domed plate cover, they are made by award-winning artisans at Matinox and Le Floc’h.

On the left a timber alcove wraps itself around a single table where diners receive a dedicated service and benefit from greater privacy. The outside of the alcove is in unfinished strips of curved oak, assimilating the hull of a fishing boat.

This piece of ‘micro-architecture’ is a theatrical presence within the overall decor, highlighting the character of the project. The alcove’s inner surface is finished with the imprint of the restaurant’s original screens, with embroidered details of vegetables- like spirits of the past.

The new bar at the Plaza sets its own scene, in a fresh, astonishing space.

Here Patrick Jouin and Sanjit Manku have taken an audacious, creative approach. A tension has been set up between the ceiling and the bar to create a singular sensation. This dreamlike decor plunges the visitor into a very particular atmosphere that lends itself to emotion and encounters.

The ceiling disappears behind deep blue fabric clouds made from seamless, infinite material. The boundaries between floor, walls and ceiling dissolve in a clever play of lighting developed with Philippe Almon.

Behind the translucent arc of the resin bar, staff have a central island in polished stainless steel where they prepare cocktails from carafes set into the island, lit with glowing rings. The rich brown carpet and graphic pattern lightens as it nears the bar.

To enable a variety of configurations for socialising or privacy, the duo of designers used mid-height banquettes opposite the bar inset with occasional tables. Screens made in timber and stitched fabric wrap around areas of seating to create less formal areas. The elegant leather sofas and low chairs with their timber legs, at night blend into the surroundings created by the soft glow of the cast glass lights.

Finally, to add a personal touch throughout, Patrick Jouin and Sanjit Manku have designed three types of glass and a carafe. Made in Murano from blown glass, these containers provide the finishing touches that give the bar a unique character.

In the restaurant space, screens are also used to divide the space. Four luminous screens with polished steel ‘mirrors’ on the upper sections make the space feel larger while giving structure to the restaurant space. The designers have added a touch of mischievous humour in the redesign of the service trolleys, making them more casual, with white, spoked wheels like a bicycle.

At the end of the restaurant, cleverly hidden behind the central one-way mirrored glass, is a display of objects illustrating the history of “the art of tableware”. Representing French manufacturers, such as Christofle and Saint Louis, this treasure chest is a conversation piece and a tour through the history and heights of French savoir-faire.

This cabinet of curiosities is only visible to Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée diners, because in the mornings with the lights extinguished and the doors closed, its contents are hidden once more.

The visible grain of the solid oak table tops are left uncovered, with leather underneath, and stainless steel. These are an important feature of the restaurant meal, heralding a new era for the haute-cuisine restaurant, where purity and simplicity are part of each and every refined detail.