Since the covid pandemic hit, one of the first things that the world stopped doing was going to restaurants. Now that the world is picking up the pieces of the pandemic, what does it mean to go back to basic activities that we took for granted?
This studio focuses on the reintroduction of the act of dining out, from both the experiential and technical perspectives. The students were given a small site on Hamra’s main street, in which to design a restaurant, with the cuisine of their choosing. The students began by researching industrial kitchens, different cuisines, and their requirements, and developed programs, user groups and concepts based on their research. While designing their restaurants, the students were required to think of accessibility, user experience, space functionality, and customising their kitchen designs according to the requirements of their chosen cuisines. They went on to identify and develop elements in their design, thinking of materiality, joinery, and spatial impact. In parallel, the students incorporated environmental systems in their designs, including HVAC, lighting, acoustic, and ceiling design. The final outcome should demonstrate a strong coherence between design intentions, material selections and detail solutions.