Locally Sourced Materials Define the Tomo Experience
CategoriesArchitecture

Locally Sourced Materials Define the Tomo Experience

 

Tomo – is a restaurant in White Center, just south of Seattle, WA. The client named the restaurant after his grandmother, Tomoko, and the Japanese word “tomodachi”, meaning ‘friend’. Embracing these warm roots, wood became the centerpiece of the space. Nearly every piece of the interior was created locally, bringing down the carbon footprint of the project, and amplifying the local economic impact. The 80’ wooden light fixture, pendant lighting, bench seating, chairs, bar stools, tabletops, slatted wall panels and shake cladding were custom designed and fabricated by our team just five miles away.

Architizer chatted with Seth Grizzle, Founder & Creative Director at Graypants, Inc., to learn more about this project.

Architizer: What inspired the initial concept for your design?

Seth Grizzle: Our initial concept was inspired by the idea of a space to enjoy great food without the trappings or stiffness of traditional fine dining. We wanted to create a lot of warmth, so wood is a centerpiece of the space: Referencing shou sugi ban, much of the interior wood has been stained a deep ebony, while oak shingles arranged like scales clad a wall running the length of the space, and contrast the strict geometry of the vertical ash slats that wrap the opposing walls.

This project won in the 10th Annual A+Awards! What do you believe are the standout components that made your project win?

I think what stands out about Tomo is that nearly every piece of the interior was created locally, bringing down the carbon footprint of the project, and amplifying the upfront, local economic impact of the project. The 80’ light fixture, pendant lighting, bench seating, chairs, bar stools, tabletops, slatted wall panels and shake cladding were custom designed and fabricated by our team just five miles away. As well, nearly all of the lighting is directly integrated into the architectural elements–the wall panels, the bench seating, the bar shelves– the lighting is felt but not seen.

What was the greatest design challenge you faced during the project, and how did you navigate it?

The space is narrow and deep, posing a risk of feeling cold, tight and confining. Code restrictions meant fixed walls, plumbing and bathrooms. With these lines already drawn in the space, we worked with softening elements; wood, integrated light, a neutral pallette to create a dining experience that is refined but not extravagant, and elevated by light.

How did the context of your project — environmental, social or cultural — influence your design?

The context highly influenced the project. The client chose Tomo’s neighborhood, White Center, very deliberately as it has been on a slower path to economic growth and becoming more inviting to visitors. As a chef with a long list of accolades, and a community curious to learn his next endeavor, the client deliberately rejected the idea of another anticipated restaurant within the city of Seattle, in hopes of speeding the trajectory growth in White Center with a space to enjoy great food without the trappings or stiffness of traditional fine dining. With the design, the team responded by creating a space remarkable enough to feel like a destination–a place worth traveling to- for both food and ambiance.

What is your favorite detail in the project and why?

One of my favorite elements in the project is a custom, handmade 80-foot linear wood fixture that traces the entire length of the restaurant. The layout of the restaurant invited a reference to an evening in one of the endless alleyways of Japanese cities; the custom fixture beautifully connects this space without cluttering it.

How have your clients responded to the finished project?

We loved seeing that since opening, the restaurant has immediately begun outperforming their projections, with a booked solid calendar bringing hundreds of people to the neighborhood every single evening.

How do you believe this project represents you or your firm as a whole?

Tomo is a reflection of Graypants’ emphasis on the interplay between light and architecture. They always inform one another, and in Tomo, the lighting is felt much more than seen. With the exception of the linear fixture, which is very visible even as it is quite understated.

Is there anything else important you’d like to share about this project?

The cost per square feet of this project is, conservatively, 35 percent below the benchmark, largely due to the team’s ability to make simple, touchable materials feel chic in a monochrome palette. The team used a design/build approach for the project, fabricating much of the primary design elements such as fixtures and furnishings, cutting out suppliers and shortening the timeline significantly.

Team Members

Seth Grizzle, Bryan Reed, Caleb Patterson

Consultants

Fin Design Shop

For more on Tomo, please visit the in-depth project page on Architizer.

Tomo Gallery

Reference

Revitalizing a Contaminated Site: The Ford Calumet Environmental Center
CategoriesArchitecture

Revitalizing a Contaminated Site: The Ford Calumet Environmental Center

 

Ford Calumet Environmental Center – Once a dumping ground from nearby steel mills, Big Marsh park opened in 2016 on the southeast side of Chicago. The Chicago Park District asked Valerio Dewalt Train to design an environmental center that serves as an education hub and a gateway to eco-recreation opportunities throughout the region. The design responded to the park’s past by marrying the industrial with the natural. The exterior is clad in a rain screen of weathered steel that recalls the site’s steel mill history, with an exposed mass timber interior. Two large rooftop light monitors, clad in exposed Nail-Laminated-Timber, flood a double-height exhibition area with daylight.

Architizer chatted with Tom Daly, Project Manager and Joe Valerio, Design Principal at Valerio Dewalt Train, to learn more about this project.

© Tom Harris Photography

© Tom Harris Photography

© Tom Harris Photography

© Tom Harris Photography

Architizer: What inspired the initial concept for your design?

Tom Daly: Historically, Chicago’s Southeast Side has been burdened with the effects of industrialization and left with remnants of steel production in the region of the city. The building’s materiality serves as a metaphor to the site’s industrial past and forward-thinking future: the corten steel that wraps around the building is an acknowledgement of that past, while the two wooden forms cantilever dramatically to both mark the entry and frame a view of the interior, while from the inside they focus your attention on small but significant vignettes of the restored natural landscape. They deliver a message about an environmentally responsive and conscious future.

© Tom Harris Photography

© Tom Harris Photography

This project won in the 10th Annual A+Awards! What do you believe are the standout components that made your project win?

The design serves as an example for a progressive future of building in the City of Chicago, a city known for design innovation. The center was the first wastewater wetland system in the city, and the first mass timber building for the Chicago Park District. The building also actively improves living conditions for its surrounding inhabitants. Its highly bird-safe design rates a 4 out of a 100 level scale, with 0 being the highest, and provides a resource for the surrounding communities who have suffered from a lack of investment and park services for decades. It’s sculptural form and rich materiality serve as a gateway to the park at large.

© Tom Harris Photography

© Tom Harris Photography

What was the greatest design challenge you faced during the project, and how did you navigate it?

The overall project budget was $6.6M, and was made possible by a major contribution from the Ford Motor Company. The Design Team was immediately challenged when it was discovered that the nearest sanitary sewer line was 1.6 miles from the site. The cost of bringing a sanitary sewer to the site was $2.0M – threatening the viability of the entire development. Working with our civil and plumbing engineers, we developed a design for an on-site black water treatment system where the outflow was clean water. The Ford Calumet Environmental Center is the first time a wastewater wetland system has been permitted by the City of Chicago.

© Tom Harris Photography

© Tom Harris Photography

How did the context of your project — environmental, social or cultural — influence your design?

The project’s environmental, social and cultural context are intertwined. Historically, Chicago’s Southeast Side has been financially underserved and burdened with the effects of industrialization. The Ford Calumet Environmental Center is a bold statement of how we can re-inhabit landscapes destroyed by 20th Century technology. A major focus were local residents of the four surrounding neighborhoods including South Deering, Pullman, Trumbull Hill and Hegewisch. Our Media-Objectives Studio reached out to community leaders and developed an award winning exhibit which focuses on their past and optimistic future. Through environmental education and eco-recreation, the center serves as a community resource and cultivates advocacy for positive change across the Calumet Region.

© Tom Harris Photography

© Tom Harris Photography

What drove the selection of materials used in the project?

The building’s materials reinforce its mission. The 20th Century industries that so damaged this region were major sources of carbon released in the atmosphere. The weathered steel cladding is recycled – which has a low level of embodied carbon compared to other building materials. The decision with the most impact is the use of a mass timber structure. The embodied carbon is lower than almost any other material, in addition the timber sequesters carbon leading the way to an environmentally-responsive future.

© Tom Harris Photography

© Tom Harris Photography

What is your favorite detail in the project and why?

Early in the design process our focus was on creating an open and welcoming architecture with a daylit interior. Big Marsh Park is also on one of the major migratory routes for birds, drawing attention from an important constituency for the Park – bird watchers.

The two wooden forms that cantilever over the corten facade, bring daylight from above into the exhibit space. The eight foot cantilever results in eliminating the reflection of the sky in the large clerestory windows, bird safe glass is also used for these window. There are six large windows around the perimeter that bring daylight into all the interior rooms. Each is equipped with large doors, covered in perforated corten steel. In the open position, the doors shade the glass reducing the reflection of the sky. During the migratory season, the doors are kept closed, with the perforated metal still providing adequate light

© Tom Harris Photography

© Tom Harris Photography

How important was sustainability as a design criteria as you worked on this project? 

Sustainability was a driving factor in the design and overall project mission. Sustainable features like the wastewater wetland system are put on display, demonstrating how it takes inspiration from the marshes’ natural processes to treat the building’s blackwater and release clean water back to the site via a leach field. Renewable resources in the project include Nail Laminated Timber, giving the building warmth and a lower carbon footprint. An eco-friendly alternative to aluminum, weathered steel has a lower carbon footprint as well, reducing the building’s overall embodied carbon while providing a durable layer of protection with a beautiful orange patina.

© Tom Harris Photography

© Tom Harris Photography

In what ways did you collaborate with others, and were there any team members or skills that were essential in bringing this Award winning project to life?

Collaboration was critical to the success of the FCEC. It began with the Chicago Park District who were willing to explore new solutions to old problems. In addition, from the beginning one of the Districts goals was to engage the adjacent minority communities.

Designing and permitting the wasteland wastewater system involved many members of the design team, the Park District, and the Chicago Building Department.

Finally, our Media-Objectives Studio brought leaders and residents of the surrounding neighborhoods into the design of the exhibit which includes the history of these communities including photographs of some of the residents including their own words about the past and future of the region.

© Tom Harris Photography

© Tom Harris Photography

Were any parts of the project dramatically altered from conception to construction, and if so, why?

There were a number of changes, but nothing that represented a dramatic change.

How have your clients responded to the finished project?

The FCEC is one of the most widely recognized buildings completed by the Chicago Park District. Among the awards and publications the most significant is first place in the yearly Driehaus Foundation Award for Architectural Excellence in Community Design was established to recognize the importance of great architecture and craftsmanship to city life.

How do you believe this project represents you or your firm as a whole?

Good design is always the answer.

Team Members

Steffan Schoenauer – Project Manager (Chicago Park District); Joe Valerio – Design Principal Mark Dewalt – Principal-in-Charge, Tom Daly, Alexander Raynor – Project Manager, Lauren Shelton, Matt Gamache, Michael Johnson, Susan Crockett, Nina Cackovic, Haydyn Jones, (Valerio Dewalt Train); Joe Lawton – Principal, Allison Rokusek, Jacob Goble, Rafael Barontoni, Stephen Killion – Graphic Designers (Media–Objectives)

Consultants

Chicago Commercial Construction – General Contractor; Primera – Civil Engineer; Jacobs Ryan Associates – Landscape Architecture; Matrix Engineering – Structural Engineering; dbHMS – MEP Engineering; Tom Harris – Photography; TetraTech – Environmental Consultants; BioHabitats – Green Infrastructure

Products and Materials

ReSawn Timber Co; Axis Lighting; Dri Design; Arborwood; Shaw; Crossville; Steelcase;

For more on Ford Calumet Environmental Center, please visit the in-depth project page on Architizer.

Ford Calumet Environmental Center Gallery

Reference

Vermilion Zhou Design Group Transforms ‘green massage’ into an Alice in Wonderland-Inspired Fantasy Forest
CategoriesArchitecture

Vermilion Zhou Design Group Transforms ‘green massage’ into an Alice in Wonderland-Inspired Fantasy Forest

 

‘green massage’ Shanghai Madang Road store – Entering ‘green massage’ Madang Road, is like entering the “Rabbit Hole” in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Inspired by the Mad Hatter’s quote “There is a place. Like no place on Earth. A land full of wonder, mystery…”, your reality shrinks and shifts as you enter this fantasy forest. The process gradually disconnects your tired body from reality.

Architizer chatted with Creative Director Kuang Ming(Ray) Chou and Lighting Design Director Vera Chu at Vermilion Zhou Design Group to learn more about this project.

Architizer: This project won in the 10th Annual A+Awards! What do you believe are the standout components that made your project win?

Kuang Ming(Ray) Chou & Vera Chu: Massage services are very common in China, but the experience space always looks similar. We tried to jump from the typical oriental design and based on the brand thinking, with a new way to give the consumer a different atmosphere to experience massage service in every “green massage” space. In the end, to relax and treat every tired body and soul.

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

What was the greatest design challenge you faced during the project, and how did you navigate it?

“green massage” is a chain brand based in Shanghai that has many experience spaces, some being very close to each other. The client’s demand was to keep the same brand DNA and exploring new customers.

“green massage” Madang Road is located in “THE ROOF”, the architecture was designed by Jean Nouvel, and the architecture attracts many people who visit. But “green massage” is on the second underground floor, we have to stand out to attract consumers. That’s why we create the “rabbit hole” entrance. “Curiosity”, and “exploratory” to the new consumers, also a freshness to members.

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

What drove the selection of materials used in the project?

“green massage” is on the second underground floor so the humidity is a problem, and also fire prevention is what we are concerned about. And we still want guests to feel relaxed in the whole environment, so the material must be the sense of soft, even visual.

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

What is your favorite detail in the project and why?

The rippling shape of the ceiling in the reception area, which seems the story’s preface, leads people to enter the story.

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

In what ways did you collaborate with others, and were there any team members or skills that were essential in bringing this Award winning project to life?

We intend to create a fantasy space based on our concept, so we choose “Nan Paper Art” as our collaborator. The paper material gives a soft sense that can fit our design and also can be malleable to make a huge size floral garden.

And this is the first time that their creations added lighting design, for them that’s a new inspiration, and for us is a great experience to enrich the whole design.

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

Were any parts of the project dramatically altered from conception to construction, and if so, why?

Even though not everything is so satisfactory from conception to construction, embracing change and figuring out the solution is the designer’s mission. Finally, we are so lucky to have good results.

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

How have your clients responded to the finished project?

In the beginning, the client has their concern, but eventually, they trust our profession. The result shows the consumers, the actual space users had very good feedback and increased the business.

What key lesson did you learn in the process of conceiving the project?

We have to believe what we do, dig into who is the actual user in every space then provide their actual need.

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

How do you believe this project represents you or your firm as a whole?

The design concept is the matter, every design is a new breakthrough, to observe, find out the key problem then solve them. The lighting design in this project was involved in the very early design phase, and it become the key design tone.

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

Team Members

Creative Director|Kuang Ming(Ray) Chou, Interior Design|Garvin Hung, Yue Hu, Reykia Feng, Chang Song Li, Yu Xuan Li, Ming Rui Gao, Lighting Design|Vera Chu, Chia Huang Liao, FF&E Design|Wan Lu Yang, Video|Ming Shi, Ting Ho, Photographer|Yunpu Cai,

Consultants

Nan Paper Art

For more on ‘green massage’ Shanghai Madang Road store, please visit the in-depth project page on Architizer.

‘green massage’ Shanghai Madang Road store Gallery

Reference