The Attic

This interior design project transforms a historic factory into a modern restaurant while extending the city's industrial heritage. It seeks to strike a balance between the rawness of the original industrial architecture and the subtlety of contemporary spatial design.

The project involves two connected sister restaurants: The Attic, a newly Michelin-rated restaurant serving "Chinese-French" fine dining for exclusive customers, and its neighboring eatery that serves a different cuisine for walk-in customers. Both restaurants, while sharing a wine cellar and some kitchen facilities, are led by the same chef yet operate independently. The innovative endeavor aims to create diverse yet unique culinary experiences for a wider range of customers.

While transforming the former workshop into a stage for chefs to showcase their talents, the designer has carried forward the culture and spirit of the original space, giving it a fresh character that aligns with the restaurant's theme - time.

The experience begins with the arrival to the reception through the enormous rusted corten door, where light and sound from the chef's table beyond the translucent glass are masked mysteriously. Glass slides open as drawing curtains, giving a theatrical revelation to the chefs at the center 'stage' under the pitched vertical space. The central trellis floats above the dining area, provides functional lighting, and adds a sense of scale and intimacy.

The design language is much inspired and derived from the original architecture. The clear structural-spatial system of the original building is preserved as the primary hierarchy of the design framework, from which the renovation and additions are distinguished as the second hierarchy. The original coarse texture is maintained or remanifested in the first hierarchy, while the addition features a refined texture in the same hue, blurring the boundary between the old and new. This effect is metaphorical to the subtle changes in an ingredient's flavor over time under the artful treatment of a chef.