Argento Interni · 2022
The Grand Blue Express Ristorante
- A' Design Award d'Argento 2022 in Interni
- CLIENT: Nautilus Ueno
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 26,227
- Verification code CE2C0636E3 · Verify this award
Colors
About The Grand Blue Express Ristorante
Il Grand Blue Express è un lussuoso ristorante in acquario a Ueno, Tokyo. Lo spazio ristrutturato, limitato a 95 mq, si trova al 5° piano di un edificio ad uso misto. Ispirato ai treni di lusso, il design cerca di superare i piccoli limiti di spazio sia per ospitare gli acquari sia per fornire l'atmosfera lussuosa che ristorante mira a implementare. La sala da pranzo assume la forma di un corridoio di carrozza che serve le singole cabine su entrambi i lati. ogni cabina è dotata del proprio acquario installato per imitare i finestrini del treno, creando l'impressione di essere all'interno di un treno che viaggia sott'acqua.
About the A' Design Award d'Argento
The Grand Blue Express Ristorante ha vinto l'A' Design Award d'Argento, un riconoscimento enormemente prestigioso conferito a design di fascia alta, splendidi e impressionanti. I vincitori d'Argento sono opere tremendamente brillanti ed estremamente creative che illustrano l'eccezionale competenza, il talento e l'acume dei loro designer. Ci si aspetta che The Grand Blue Express Ristorante sia un'opera meravigliosa, una vetrina di eccellenza, notevolmente professionale e profondamente innovativa. Questo design vincitore dell'A' Design Award d'Argento è un'invenzione molto notevole e ammirata che giova ai confini dell'arte, della scienza, del design e della tecnologia e li fa avanzare. The Grand Blue Express Ristorante è una creazione molto invidiata che evoca desideri, porta sentimenti positivi e accende meraviglia e stupore.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- The renovation work for the aquarium dining restaurant took place on the narrow 5th floor of a mixed used building in Ueno, Tokyo. The restaurant is inspired by luxury cruise trains and imitates them to produce a small yet luxurious atmosphere for the dining room. The seats are made into train cabins where the windows are replaced by aquariums. The space turns on to offer an immersive experience with the impression of being inside a train cruising underwater.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Gross Built Area: 95sqm
W15325mm x D8300mm x H2390mm - Tags
- Japan, dining, aquarium, restaurant, Tokyo, blue, train, immersive, hospitality, commercial
- Production Technology
- The walls are made using dry wall techniques. The floor is covered in ceramic tiles. While the ceiling is finished in vinyl cloth mainly, except for the central corridor ceiling which is covered in special stainless panels that imitates water waves. The aquariums are surrounded by steel frames with a golden baked painting finish. On the top of the frame another round steel panels that allows access to the aquariums for maintenance purposes.
- Design Challenge
- The client abstract when starting this project is to produce a luxury aquarium dining experience, however the total floor area to be used, including the kitchen is no larger than 95sqm and the height under the beams is limited to 2.3m. How can such a narrow place offer a luxury experience was the main challenge leading to the concept of luxury cruise trains. the second challenge was to integrate the aquariums in this composition without altering the concept.
- Research
- The experiment of this project was to find a way to imitate a luxury train experience on a concrete building inside the urban jungle of Tokyo. How can a built interior space offer the same experience than a moving dynamic wagon and how can interior materials be used to simulate an automotive space? The combination of material use, dimensional canons, and geometrical shapes were the core of this design exercise.
- Inspiration
- The space was inspired by luxury trains rides which offers various services. The trains are composed of several wagons with special functions and special layouts. The restaurant combines two types of wagons, the cabin and the dinner and merge them to create a dining cabin, and since the restaurant theme is aquarium dining, the train windows are replaced by aquariums to create a simulation of a train cruising under the water.
- Project Duration
- Project start: July 2021.
Construction start: December 2021.
Project/Construction End: February 2022.
Location:
Ueno, Tokyo, Japan. - Operation Flow
- Since the restaurant is located on the 5th floor of a building the access is done through the elevator that opens to a small welcoming hall. At the corner a circular shaped sofa. Then the corridor along the space serving the cabins on both sides. on the left, four two-seaters cabins and on the right four other four-seaters cabins. At the end of the corridor the VIP cabin. The kitchen is accessed on both extremities of the corridor on the right side.
- Image Credits
- Image #1: photographer ©Stirling Elmendorf, Nautilus, 2022.
Image #2: photographer ©Stirling Elmendorf, Nautilus, 2022.
Image #3: photographer ©Stirling Elmendorf, Nautilus, 2022.
Image #4: photographer ©Stirling Elmendorf, Nautilus, 2022.
Image #5: photographer ©Stirling Elmendorf, Nautilus, 2022.
