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Frank Architecture puts Japanese spin on cabincore at Hello Sunshine bar
CategoriesInterior Design

Frank Architecture puts Japanese spin on cabincore at Hello Sunshine bar

By Zarkon Group,

A “psychedelic inverted cabin” provided Canadian studio Frank Architecture with the design narrative for this Japanese casual bar and restaurant in Banff, Alberta.

Located in the mountains of Alberta, Hello Sunshine offers barbecue, sushi and karaoke in a retro-influenced space by Frank Architecture.

Fireplace at the centre of a dining table
Fireplaces sit at the centre of special tables at Hello Sunshine

The team imagined an alternate reality, in which Japanese graphic designer Tadanori Yokoo ventured into the mountains and holed up in a cabin for years, and based the interiors on what the result might have been.

“Taking cues from the unlikely juxtaposition of Japanese psychedelia meets spaghetti western meets mountain cabin, Hello Sunshine is bold, playful, and distinct,” said Frank Architecture, which has an office in Banff.

Fire pit foregrounds a rounded bar behind
The wood-panelled restaurant features a rounded bar at the back

The eatery is located in the middle of the town, which is a popular destination for tourists and winter sports enthusiasts and is laid out to offer a sense of discovery.

“The spatial planning is intended to feel organic and meandering,” the team said. “Upon entry, the restaurant isn’t immediately visible but is slowly revealed as one moves through space.”

Paper lantern above bench seating
Japanese elements like paper lanterns and textile artworks and paired with plaid curtains and plenty of wood

The restaurant occupies a tall open space lined almost entirely in wood, with the rounded bar located at the back and a variety of table seating options scattered around.

Diners can choose between communal benches, four-tops, booths, bar stools, or sit at one of two special tables.

Booths beside angled shingle-covered walls
Booth seating is lined up against angled, shingle-covered walls

This pair of large circular counters both feature a raised fire pit at their centre, below fluid-shaped flues clad in glossy, glazed ceramic tiles.

Japanese design staples like paper lanterns and ceiling-hung textile artworks are combined with mountain tropes such as plaid curtains, exposed stone and plenty of wood.

Blue corduroy fabric is used to cover banquettes, while the booth seating is tucked into a niche formed by angled walls covered with timber shingles.

In the karaoke rooms tucked away at the back, patterned carpet, lava lamps and disco balls add colour and sparkle to the wood-panelled spaces.

Karaoke room with disco ball and lava lamps
Karaoke rooms are enlivened by disco balls and lava lamps

There’s also a concealed tiny bar based on those crammed into the alleyways of Golden Gai in Shinjuku, Tokyo.

“The result is a bold and encapsulating space that surprises and delights guests with unexpected moments and distinctive style,” said the team.

Tiny concealed bar
A tiny concealed bar is based on those found in Golden Gai, Shinjuku

This isn’t Frank Architecture’s only Japanese restaurant – the studio also created an intimate setting for the Lonely Mouth noodle bar in its other home city of Calgary.

For another spot in the Western Canada metropolis, the team drew inspiration from author Truman Capote to set a 1960s vibe at Major Tom on the 40th floor of a downtown skyscraper.

The photography is by Chris Amat.

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Jonas Bohlin and Christine Ingridsdotter create reusable bar Underbar
CategoriesSustainable News

Jonas Bohlin and Christine Ingridsdotter create reusable bar Underbar

By Zarkon Group,

Interior architect Jonas Bohlin has designed a bar featuring a wall made from dress shirts and a ceiling decorated with emergency blankets at Stockholm Furniture Fair.

Bohlin worked closely with Christine Ingridsdotter, who previously designed the colouring and textiles for restaurants by Bohlin, on the project.

Underbar at Stockho;m Furniture Fair by Jonas Bohlin and Christine Ingridsdotter
Silvery emergency blankets decorate the ceiling

Called Underbar, a pun on the word bar that means wonderful in Swedish, the space is located at the centre of the Stockholm Furniture Fair trade show and was made from materials that will be reused once the fair is over.

Its design was based on a previous bar that Bohlin created for the furniture fair in the early 1980s, which had the same proportions.

Wall made from dress shirts at Underbar bar at Stockholm Design Week
The back wall is made from dress shirts

All of the bar’s furniture was designed by Bohlin and made in Sweden, and all the materials used for Underbar were chosen so that they could be reused after the fair closes.

“As a designer, there are three things that are of interest: nature, life and the future,” Bohlin told Dezeen. “We wanted to create a space where everything could be reused, nothing would be allowed to be thrown away afterward.”

“We borrowed the shirts for the dress shirt wall from friends who will get them back, while the vases are from second-hand store Myrorna and will be given back to it when the bar closes,” he said.

“The willow mats used for the walls will be used at garden fair Trädgårdsmässan; the chairs I’ve borrowed from restaurants I’ve designed, the tables have already been sold, and the bench was made from wooden flooring and a steel frame that can also be reused.”

View of Underbar at Stockholm Furniture Fair by Jonas Bohlin
Bohlin constructed the lamps for the space himself

The felt lamps were designed by Bohlin for a lighting company that didn’t want to produce them, blaming a lack of time.

“That made me slightly annoyed as I’d already envisioned the lamps here, so I had to sit down and make them all myself,” Bohlin said.

“The idea was that they would be good for the acoustics,” he added. “The best thing is to dampen the sound close to the source, the mouth, which is why I made the lamps from felt and in these half-circle shapes that catch the sound. Some of these will go to a restaurant after and I’ll sell the rest of them.”

Lamps made from felt by designer Jonas Bohlin
Vases were bought from a second-hand store

The bar was made from leather on a steel frame in collaboration with Ahls Mekaniska in Småland, which also helped make the tables.

The ceiling was decorated with emergency blankets that will be donated after the end of the fair, potentially to Ukraine, Bohlin said. His lamps Andromeda and Atom were used to create sculptural lighting designs in the bar.

Close-up of dress shirts used for Underbar bar
Shirts were leant by friends and will be returned

“When I design something I try to relate to the space, play on the space as if it is Chinese chequers – I want to keep something of the history of the space when I create something new and respect the history that has been,” Bohlin said.

“But I also try to create a landscape of dreams,” he added. “We’re all different, and I think it’s important in a public space for everyone to find something – in the colour or form – that they feel safe with or recognise, something they can talk about.”

“Fancy restaurants may target just one typical audience, while I want everyone who comes here to feel welcome and for everyone to have an experience, both of the food and of the spatiality.”

Other projects on show during Stockholm Design Week include a pavilion by Daniel Rybakken in the waters of Stockholm and an exhibition that visualizes the carbon emissions of common materials.

Underbar is on show until 11 February as part of Stockholm Design Week. Browse our digital guide to the festival here and see Dezeen Events Guide for details of other architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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Venice floodwaters inform two-tone interior of Va Bene Cicchetti bar
CategoriesInterior Design

Venice floodwaters inform two-tone interior of Va Bene Cicchetti bar

By Zarkon Group,

Sea green floors and skirting tiles are contrasted against the all-red interior of this bar in Warsaw, Poland, which local studio Noke Architects has designed to recall the high waters of Venice.

Billed as Poland’s first cicchetti bar – an Italian bar selling drinks alongside small plates of food – Va Bene Cicchetti is located in a huge Socialist Realist housing estate from the 1950s called the Marszałkowska Housing District.

Exterior of Va Bene Cicchetti bar by Noke Architects
Va Bene Cicchetti is a bar in Warsaw

Customers enter the bar via an arched doorway lined with antique mirrors. Inside, they are met by a huge red travertine counter with a large drinks cooler, which is hollowed out of the stone and filled with ice and bottles of prosecco.

Most of the interior is rendered in warm hues of red and gold in a nod to the colours of the Venetian flag.

But the floor, and everything up to about 20 centimetres in height, is finished in sea green to suggest the high waters of the Veneto region, locally known as acqua alta.

Red travertine bar by Noke Architects
Its interior was informed by Venice’s floodwaters

Several times a year, when the tide in the Adriatic Sea rises, these floodwaters will cover streets and piazzas in Venice in a layer of water.

To recreate this “flood effect” inside the interior of Va Bene Cicchetti, Noke Architects coloured the floors and skirting tiles, as well as the base of table legs, chairs and plinths in a watery shade of turquoise.

Red and turquoise interior of Warsaw bar Va Bene Cicchetti
Tables resemble Venice’s red-and-white striped mooring poles

“We wanted the place to be unambiguously associated with Venice but we also wanted for this reference to be fresh and unique,” said Piotr Maciaszek, who co-founded Noke Architects alongside Aleksandra Hyz and Karol Pasternak.

“We took inspiration from the colours of the Venetian flag, which dominate all finishings, and incorporated the acqua alta motif in the interior as an element of surprise.”

Shadow of wave decal on floor of Warsaw bar
Turquoise skirting tiles run along the perimeter of the room

The scheme is completed with glass lamps that resemble rippling water and bespoke furniture pieces including tables that pay homage to the red-and-white striped mooring posts found in Venice’s canals.

Taking over an entire wall of the bar is an intricate mosaic made from reclaimed materials including glass panes from the Murano glass factory in Venice and fragments of wine bottles from Va Bene Cicchetti’s sister restaurant Va Bene.

The mural depicts the bar’s owners and their dog Koko enjoying wine and food at a table in Venice.

“Veneto is where the famous Murano glass and antique mirrors are manufactured,” Maciaszek explained.

“The region is famous for its ceramics and wine. We came up with the idea to use mini pieces of Venice as the building blocks of our artwork. Mosaic was the perfect solution for this.”

Va Bene Cicchetti bar in Warsaw by Noke Architects with all-red interior and turquoise floors
The bar is centred on a red travertine counter

The bar’s basement level is completely saturated in the same greeny-blue hue as the floors upstairs to create the impression of being underwater.

Bathrooms, meanwhile, are finished in black and white stripes and topped with a red ceiling in a reference to the uniforms worn by Venetian gondoliers.

Wall mosaic in Warsaw bar
An intricate mosaic covers an entire wall of the bar

Polish illustrator and graphic designer Ola Niepsuj was responsible for creating the bar’s visual identity, which depicts the Lion of Saint Mark – a winged lion that represents the patron saint of Venice and is found on buildings across the city.

At Va Bene Cicchetti, this motif can be found in the form of door handles and the neon light above the entrance.

Stairwell with colour-block red and green walls
The bar’s basement level is covered in sea green tiles

Elsewhere in Poland, local practice Paradowski Studio recently channelled the glamour of Kraków’s interwar cafes and the clean functionalism of its mid-century modern cinemas for a hotel renovation.

The Puro Stare Miasto hotel is located next to Kraków’s historic old town and spans 138 rooms alongside an extensive open-plan reception, lobby space and restaurant.

The photography is by Piotr Maciaszek.



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Home Studios adds soft seating to Italian restaurant Bar Enza
CategoriesInterior Design

Home Studios adds soft seating to Italian restaurant Bar Enza

By Zarkon Group,

Brooklyn-based Home Studios has filled an Italian restaurant close to Harvard University with plush booths and banquettes to introduce colour and texture to the space.

Bar Enza is situated in a prime spot on Harvard Square next to the Ivy League college in Cambridge, Massachusetts – just across the Charles River from Boston.

Red booth seating at Bar Enza
Home Studios revamped Bar Enza to include a variety of soft seating

The project involved the revamp of an existing restaurant on the ground floor of The Charles Hotel.

To complement chef Mark Ladner’s menu, Home Studios pulled references from a range of regions and styles across Italy – from Rome’s trattorias to Milanese villas – and combined them to create interiors that feel elevated yet cosy.

Sofa seating forms a row through the centre
The restaurant’s original floors and ceiling were kept intact

Upon request of the client, the original ceilings and floors were retained. Meanwhile, brick walls were plastered and painted white to match the ceiling and to help brighten the space.

Freestanding tables and chairs were mostly swapped for soft seating, in the form of booths, banquettes and sofas covered in five different upholstery types to add variety.

Green booths against the service area
Five different fabrics were used to upholster the booths and banquettes

The building’s zig-zag glazed facade, which brings in plenty of light, creates niches that are filled with high-top tables surrounded by curved, pale pink booths.

Forming a row through the centre of the dining area, pairs of high-backed red sofas face each other across marble tables.

Curved pink booth in a corner
Brick walls were painted white to help brighten the interior

Other booths and banquettes feature sage green or beige fabrics, accompanied by cane-backed cafe chairs, while bar stools are topped with red leather cushions.

“Unexpected details include plush seating, reminiscent of stately libraries and studies,” Haslegrave said. “Essentially we mixed mid-century architectural details with more traditional upholstered seating to achieve a confluence and diversity of designs.”

The service areas were kept largely intact, but custom millwork was added to refresh the materiality.

Shelving was also clad in warm woods, while textured glass and brass hardware were introduced as accents.

Ceiling details above marble tables
Cane-baked cafe chairs accompany the booths and freestanding tables

“The very elevated level of service meant for very specific requirements on the service area millwork and shelving,” said Haslegrave.

Time and budget restrictions meant that lighting was sourced. The selection of sconces, pendants and table lamps was chosen to create a “warm and sexy” feeling in the evening.

Beige banquette along a window
The Italian restaurants draws references from Rome’s trattorias and Milanese villas

During the day, sheer curtains allow natural light to wash over the interior and allows the fabric hue to pop.

Home Studios’ previous bar and restaurant projects across the US include the Laurel Brasserie and Bar in Salt Lake City, The Harvey House in Madison, Wisconsin,and Bibo Ergo Sum in LA.

The photography is by Brian W Ferry.

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Horma Studio creates terracotta-toned salad bar in Valencia
CategoriesInterior Design

Horma Studio creates terracotta-toned salad bar in Valencia

By Zarkon Group,

A zigzagging plinth that accommodates seating, steps and planters weaves its way through this terracotta-coloured salad bar in Valencia by local design practice Horma Studio.


Located in a protected heritage building in the city’s L’Eixample district, the 140-square-metre space belongs to the BeGreen Salad Company.

For its interior, the brand wanted a non-prescriptive layout that could be used in a multitude of different ways.

Seating made of terracotta-coloured micro-cement in BeGreen Salad Company Valencia
A zigzagging plinth integrates planters and seating

“They asked us to design a comfortable and singular space,” Horma Studio told Dezeen.

“It needed to be representative of BeGreen as a place that should be honest, natural and sustainable but at the same time should rethink the concept of a typical cafe and restaurant with chairs and tables. They were looking for something flexible that could be used without any rules.”

Angular seating booths and wall mural in cafe by Horma Studio
The plinth runs along one wall of the 30-metre-long space

Finished in micro cement, terracotta and timber, the interior is laid out over an awkward long and narrow floor plan.

To maximise the eatery’s small footprint, the design team inserted a simple seating “plinth” that zigzags along one wall of the 30-metre-long space.

“We realised that the angular furniture allows us to get in more seats and contributes to creating a pleasant space, making this combination the best for our design,” the studio explained.

Finished in micro-cement, the plinth is set at different levels of up to 90 centimetres in height. It divides the plan into different seating areas including booths, benches and steps for casual seating, alongside areas for planting.

The plinth is decorated with locally-produced terracotta elements such as wall tiles and integrated cylindrical table legs. Matching upholstered seat cushions were used to pad out the bench and seating.

“The project aims to be as sustainable and honest as possible, so we simplified our decisions and used as few materials as possible,” said Horma Studio.

Micro-cement service counter and hanging shelves in BeGreen Salad Company Valencia
The serving counter is finished in micro-cement

Other terracotta-hued eateries include this Mexican restaurant in Downtown Los Angeles, where Wick Architecture & Design chose materials “that could be found on a construction site”, and a cafe in Melbourne in which Australian practice Ritz & Ghougassian used the worn red brick facade as a reference point.

Photography is by Mariela Apollonio.

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Dezeen presents cafe bar designed by Michael Young at Design Shanghai
CategoriesInterior Design

Dezeen presents cafe bar designed by Michael Young at Design Shanghai

By Zarkon Group,

Dezeen has partnered with Design Shanghai to present a cafe and bar designed by Michael Young at the 2021 edition of the trade show, which opened in Shanghai this week.


The cafe and bar is located at booth K207 in Hall 2 at Design Shanghai 2021, which takes place at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai, China, until 6 June.

The space features grey corrugated walls with splashes of colour and is furnished with previews of furniture pieces designed by Young that will be launched later in the year.

Michael Young x Dezeen cafe and bar at Design Shanghai
Dezeen has partnered with Design Shanghai to present a cafe and bar designed by Michael Young

According to Young, the concept for the space is loosely based on a bar he created last year at his office in Shekou, Shenzhen.

“I ended up with an opportunity to create a bar last year beneath our studio but with only a few weeks to build the concept I decided to throw in anything I could get hold of – samples, prototypes and things from the studio that we have collected from around the world,” the Hong Kong-based British designer told Dezeen.

“I basically scavenged the studio together like a magpie so it became a real beer shack and a place that was not designed but created organically.”

The bar has grey walls
The bar features ribbed walls with splashes of colour and pattern

Citta Design has contributed pieces of Young’s new Acre Chair for the New Zealand brand, which will be launched in Auckland in September. The space is also furnished with new editions of Young’s Stool 4a for EOQ Design, which will be launched in December.

The bar is being used to launch Young’s new drinks brand Beer Buddy, which developed a new pilsner called House for the event.

The beer brand is specifically designed to connect creatives at events, trade shows and gatherings around Asia. Drinkers can scan a QR code on the beer packaging to connect with other creatives attending the event.

It is serving Beer Buddy
Young is launching his new Beer Buddy drinks brand at the bar

The dark grey exterior walls of the space are decorated with swirling patterns based on the graphics on the Beer Buddy cans and bottles.

Colourful versions of this pattern have been used to add splashes of colour to the interior walls and enclose private seating areas.

The space is co-branded with Young’s studio logo and the Chinese version of Dezeen’s logo. The walls also feature the QR code for people to follow Dezeen’s official WeChat account, which features news and features about the latest architecture, design and interiors written in Simplified Chinese.

Michael Young x Dezeen cafe and bar at Design Shanghai
The interior and exterior of the bar features swirling patterns based on the Beer Buddy packaging

Dezeen is a media partner for Design Shanghai 2021.

The show presents over 400 local and international brands across eight different sections alongside a programme of installations, exhibitions and the return of its annual talks programme, which this year explores the topic of regenerative design.

Design Shanghai takes place from 3 to 6 June at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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