Throughout the development of Arthur’s Restaurant, the theme evolved. What began as a steakhouse, featuring the traditional dining idea, became a restaurant in memory of the owner’s father, thus the menu and designs of the restaurant were altered. While remaining a location that offers a traditional dining experience, it will also be memorable experience for guests.
3rd Award: Global Future Design Awards 2020
Firm | Unique Store Fixtures
Architect/Designer | gh3
Category | Commercial Built
Team | Unique Store Fixtures, gh3
Country | Canada
Photographer/Copyright | ©gh3
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This project involved creating a restaurant within an existing building that houses both offices and a commercial mall concourse in the interior. The project scope included the creation of three separate dining areas. With two octagonal pavilions within this building, the main dining experience, a large dining room, is located in the westerly octagon, and the secondary dining experience is an intimate bar, together these two dining areas seat about 154 people. There’s a third dining experience, which is the rooftop patio. Not only were new features added during the development of this project but the existing space and features of the building were upgraded. The windows were replaced and wall paneling was used to conceal the frame to ensure there is a seamless transition from the interior panels to the exterior.
Some of the main challenges we faced throughout this project were based on the location was an office building with a commercial component. So many of our issues were in respect to meeting the Ontario building code, in terms of exiting, fire separations, all of the technical fire and life safety issues. Thankfully through analyzing the codes and AOD we geared our designs to fit with this space. Regarding the rooftop dining experience, a technical challenge we faced was creating access to the terrace. We strategized and created a solution by constructing stairs that was both logical and innovative within the space. An additional challenge was the direction of the project changed. This need for a traditional interior and a modern aesthetic resulted in us having to develop a palette of materials that would be suitable for this vision and create a feeling of intimacy within the space.
One of the unique features within this project was the ceiling. The suspended ceiling was designed out of faceted wood panels with a wood veneer that were constructed to enhance the octagonal shape of the room, invoking an intimate feeling while mimicking the look of cut crystal hanging above. The center dome on the ceiling feature is constructed out of bronze patina, which creates a focal point, drawing the eye inward while at the same time housing the lighting and mechanical features. This use of bronze is a design element used throughout the space, specifically the cabinetry and host stands. As well, the bar area has a welded bronze tartan display to create a grid that could then house all the bottles and glassware. In front of that bar, solid panels of the bronze, which were all hand-patinad to create a bespoke finish were used as an accent throughout the largely dark space.