Sara Restaurant: A Restaurant Design with Recycled Materials and Earthly Minimalism

Odami creates a sense of calm in Sara Restaurant to provide a free space without cellphones. This restaurant is located in Toronto, Canada and designed with recycled materials. With the earthly minimalism, a more intimate approach can be created for the guests to have a deep connection without any device. A profound and calm sense are also provided for a more comfortable feeling.

Concept

The concept of this restaurant design is about creating an intimate feeling for all guests where they can truly present in the ritual of dining and socializing. The senses come from a heavy focus on the atmosphere, materiality, and also texture. Those three are combined to achieve the goal of the restaurant design.

Details

Sara Restaurant sits on a converted Victorian townhouse in Toronto’s bustling Entertainment District. With 2,400 square foot of the size and 50+ seat are designed from a residential building conversion. This conversion is also about an architectural exercise to get the right balance to preserve the character of the domestic building and maximize its potential as a restaurant.

Exterior

Some painted layers are removed to show the original character and the presence of the building materials. It exposes the yellow and red brickwork that has been hidden for a long time. The structure of the restaurant is also opened by removing and also re-framing the floors to create an intimate, vaulted main floor in the dining space.

Interior

The details for the interior are added by creating a sensation of being at the edge of a water body, a place for them who look for a calm escape. The highly-textured elements of wood, velvet, and leather are combined to give a weightiness sense for the guests. Odami uses a texture specially designed for this project, made from a mixture of recycled and plaster materials. And for the phones, the guests need to stow their phones away inside the restaurant tables which are custom-designed with a hidden compartment.