Looking for Inspiration.

On Monday I went to the library in search of some books to give me inspiration to aid my design process.

The feedback from the round table has me thinking about the theatre of food, how people interact in a restaurant and how the preparation of the food can be part of the design.

I found 3 books in the library that sounded quite useful; 'Eat Out! Restaurant Design & Food Experiences', ' New Restaurant Design' and 'Successful Restaurant Design'. 'Eat Out!' is packed full of unique and interesting restaurant interior designs from all around the world, I recommend it if your looking for ideas!

Restaurant of the Future? Inamo, London.

Inamo an Oriental fusion restaurant in London is providing a dining service with a twist.

Diners will sit down and be faced with an interactive ordering system. The power is in their hands, they can create the dining experience they want by; setting the mood of the table, ordering their own food, playing games, discovering the local area and even ordering a taxi before they leave. Along with the ‘E-table’ waiters will still be on hand to help.

Blacksheep a London based company were hired to design the interiors for Inamo. They were given four key words that the design was to be based around these were, ‘warm’, ‘vibrant’, ‘charm’ and ‘theatre’. They also had to take into consideration the lighting in the restaurant to ensure that the projections on the ‘E-tables’ would work just as well during the day as at night. A graphic screen was designed to be placed over the windows to stop the glare but still contribute to the overall theme of the restaurant. The technology may be the main focus for many, but the overall interiors were not forgotten about a trendy and sleek design has been achieved.

I’ve seen a few of Blacksheep’s designs now and I really like their quirky style. Their recent design for Jamie Oliver’s new restaurant ‘Union Jacks’ is really fun and unique.  Blacksheep is definitely a business I’m going to keep watching for inspiration.   

Burger King – New Interior Identity.

Burger King Singapore has had a makeover. ‘Outofstock’ were commissioned by Burger King Asia specific to design a new look for the interior of their takeaways. The design was intended to be welcoming, appealing to families with children, teenagers and not alienate existing customers.

Whilst researching the Burger King brand the words ‘flame grilled’ kept reappearing. ‘Outofstock’ took these words as a starting point for their design associating this with BBQs, camping, family picnics they came up with the idea of the ‘BK Garden’. The interior was then designed to imitate a garden.

Exposed brick walls, metal framed wooden dinning tables, and sofas upholstered in outdoor materials have been used. Plants are scattered around the restaurant, a roof trellis hides the exposed services and posters of the food have been framed and placed on wooden shelves. Plant pots have also been used as pendant lights to add to the garden theme.

Whilst creating a welcoming atmosphere this new design also creates a new image for Burger King. The garden theme, through the use of healthy plants and natural wood creates an image of healthy eating. The pictures framed in the store show the freshest tomatoes, these little touches would make customers think the food they are eating isn’t bad for them. In today’s environment where people are becoming more conscious of the foods they are putting into their body restaurants like Burger King that don’t sell healthy food have to have a new image for customers to buy into. It might not actually be healthy but it certainly has to look it.

As I was looking at this design I came across some of ‘Outofstocks’ sketches of it. I really like this style even although the drawings are cartoons they still look realistic and explain their ideas well.